Margaret Thatcher's former Oxford college is scrapping investments in coal in a bid to divest from all fossil fuels by this summer.
Nearly 40 years after the miners' strike that saw coal production halve in Britain, Somerville College has announced it plans to spend £100million investing in 'new green investments'.
The college, which Thatcher attended in the 1940s, says it has already cut £400,000 worth of investment in the coal industry, along with a 'significant proportion,' of holdings in gas and oil companies.
Somerville College says it has divested £400,000 worth of investments in coal, along with a 'significant proportion' of holdings in oil and gas companies
Margaret Thatcher attended Somerville College while at Oxford University in the 1940s. Her time as PM was later defined by the year-long miners' strike that began in 1984
In a statement on their website, the college said: 'We aim to fully divest from fossil fuels by July 2021.
'We have already divested from £400,000 of investments in coal, and from a significant proportion of our holdings in oil and gas companies. We will re-invest this income in new green investments.'
The college also announced that it aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest.
The news comes just weeks after it was revealed Somerville College had ordered students to pass an 'unconscious bias' test in which they had to concede that a black lecturer would be more unpopular than white colleagues.
Following an outcry, Somerville's principal, Lady Royall, said students would no longer be compelled to take the course, but other colleges are still insisting undergraduates and dons complete the often 'poor quality and ineffective' training.
A University of Oxford spokesman said: 'Unconscious bias training is one of a range of resources available to staff.
'There is ongoing public debate about unconscious bias training and Oxford staff are free to challenge and question it under our Freedom of Speech policies.'
Last month it was revealed Oxford undergraduates are being told that simply not being racist ‘isn’t good enough’ and they must be prepared to take action on the issue.
Thatcher's former college said it aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest, and plans to invest £100million on green projects. The college has recently dropped its mandatory 'unconscious bias' test
Students were told they were ‘expected to make time’ to attend the It’s About Race event at St Hugh's College.
Attendees were shown a series of slides during the session.
Under the heading ‘Be an anti-racist’ on one slide, they were told: ‘Are you racist? “No” isn’t a good enough answer.’
The slide stated: ‘We need to... stop thinking that injustice going on in the world isn’t to an extent our fault’, adding: ‘Stop being a non-racist and start being an anti-racist.’
Another slide encouraged a ‘commitment to action’, asking the question: ‘What is your individual contribution/commitment/pledge to tackle inequality and racism?’
