Koolstofbubbel. That’s how you say “carbon bubble” in Dutch. Last week, students from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, together with the non-profit organization Urgenda, launched their national divestment campaign. De Volkskrant, the third biggest daily newspaper in The Netherlands, covered the story with a title that roughly translates as “The carbon bubble looms”.
In a letter to their university board, students demanded a freeze on oil, gas, and coal investments – mostly through shares and pension funds the university has control of. The logic behind the call for divestment is the familiar one from Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article, one that we hope to see more in European media, in the next few months.
Princess Attia, from student union SRVU, put it quite succinctly: “In the eighties, we set up a similar action against apartheid. […] Climate change is the new apartheid.”
We’re excited to hear about the campaign launch and we look forward to working with more university students across the region, to bring divestment efforts to Europe on a large scale. Let’s burst that koolstofbubbel!
Photo credits: Urgenda and @WijZijnMorgen