King’s College is set to fully divest from fossil fuels by 2030, it was announced in a statement released earlier this year from the College’s First Bursar.

The College’s divestment will occur as part of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund, which is responsible for investment and financial management across the University and has committed to ensuring that the University’s investments are sustainable.

The fund aims to “eliminate fossil fuels from its portfolios by 2030,” with net zero across the University by 2038, and King’s “support[s] that and expect[s] to reach net zero individually by 2030.

The College’s energy is all renewable and new buildings are constructed to environmentally sustainable standards, however the College has experienced difficulty in heating its old buildings: the statement stressed that the College is “trying to reduce energy usage through improved insulation and more efficient generation, although this is a slow process.” 

Alongside divestment from use of fossil fuels, King’s aims to monitor its investments and their effects on fossil fuel companies. Although the College “do[es] not hold, and [has] not held for a long period, any direct investments in fossil fuel companies,” its index funds which invest in a “broad range of shares” are more “difficult to manage sustainably.”

King’s is therefore moving “to invest in an Amundi World Index Fund that limits its investments to more sustainable companies.” The College intends to continue examining similar sustainable alternatives. 

King’s is now among 18 colleges, most recently Corpus Christi and Newnham, which have announced plans for full or partial divestment. Prior to this divestment statement, King’s did not meet Extinction Rebellion’s definition of partial divestment.