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Will Oxford University Stop Investing in Coal and Oil?

Today Oxford University will decide if it will be the latest large organisation to pull out of its investments in coal and oil sands. It's part of a growing movement which started in 2008 advocating witholding capital from companies that engage in "exploration, extraction or transportation" of fossil fuels. So is divestment a good way to force us to save the planet or is it just feeling green with other people's money?

Solar entrepreneur Jeremy Leggett, who is also an Oxford Earth Sciences alumnus, and Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre (a think tank which publicises what it believes are the best ways for governments to spend their money) discussed whether divestment could make a difference.

(Photo: A power plant using coal in Germany. Credit: Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images)

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6 minutes