Fossil Free - Sweden

Fossil Free Uppsala is a student-led campaign that did everything by the book as they pushed their university to divest from fossil fuels. They did their research, started a petition, sent open letters from faculty, and held seminars with climate researchers. However when more and more people sided with the students, the university tried a new tactic; doing nothing. By staying quiet, refusing to take meetings or even listen to student demands, they thought they could stonewall the students into giving up.

Fortunately, this tactic didn’t work. The students got together and decided that they would have to cause some trouble. Looking through the university calendar they found, a high profile event that the prestigious university holds dear. With nothing more than some banners, theatrics and creativity they showed up at the event putting divestment in the spotlight, and leveraged their global support online into a Twitter storm! Just days later the university leadership were the ones asking for a meeting. While the university hasn’t achieved a full divestment yet, the team has put the issue on the agenda and are well on the way of achieving their goals!

Archive footage courtesy of Fossil Free Uppsala University