Anne Urai (associate professor Leiden University) signed the letter, stating, "Dutch universities and colleges are doing a lot to make their own operations more sustainable, conducting research on climate change and training students for the future. At the same time, they are clients of banks and insurers who are still investing in extraction and expansion of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas: products of which it is clear that we need to get rid of as soon as possible. This calls for action."
Currently, most higher education institutions bank with major banks like ING, Rabobank and Deutsche Bank with questionable reputations when it comes to sustainability. In 2021, ING funded the fossil sector (oil, coal and gas) to the tune of $10.7 billion, Rabobank $2.1 billion and Deutsche Bank $9.1 billion.
The signal value of sustainable banking is high. After all, universities and colleges of higher education represent the scientific consensus, and trust in science is high in the Netherlands: this gives knowledge institutions an important example and leadership role in the sustainability transition.
The letter makes specific recommendations to universities and colleges. For example, sustainable selection criteria can be included when choosing a new bank or insurer (see, for example Fair Banking Guide). Also, part of the financial operations can already now be placed with a sustainable bank (at the moment, unfortunately, sustainable banks are often still too small to take on the entire operations). In addition, the coalition recommends acting in groups toward the banking sector, rather than individually. Such a joint approach led to pension fund ABP's decision to withdraw from fossil investments in 2021.
