As members of the Board of Trustees of Union Theological Seminary, we take seriously our commitment to assuring that Union live up to the educational and theological principles stated in Union’s Mission Statement. A key feature of that mission involves pursuing “care for God’s creation.” We are deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating state of the planet’s health, and we are actively committed to finding ever new ways to participate in its healing. Towards this end, we have developed investment policies that lessen the harm we do to the earth.



As we take this step, we are conscious of our several important obligations to Union, its faculty, its students, and its donors, to do no unnecessary damage to our endowment’s investment returns. We believe we can accomplish that end by proceeding patiently and thoughtfully with our longstanding investment managers as they accept our intentions in this regard.



We believe, as well, that giving our attention to these matters is an ongoing process and that our policies will develop over time. We also recognize that in addition to our investment practices, Union must have an integrated, campus strategy for addressing concerns about climate change and planetary health.



Below are the policies that the Seminary will implement going forward:



• We will ask the managers of each of our separately managed accounts to divest of, and not invest in, fossil-fuel companies, just as we have for liquor, tobacco and other industries.

• We will ask our valued, highly regarded managers of our commingled funds if the funds’ portfolios include fossil-fuel companies. If so, we will ask for the formation of a fossil-fuel free fund and indicate our desire to consider that refashioned fund.

• We will screen those commingled funds which are not central to our portfolio, and, if those funds will not divest of fossil-fuel stocks, we will withdraw from those funds and find some which will.

• For any future donors to endowed funds, we will work to provide a fossil-fuel free fund, if they so wish.



We ask the Investment Committee to take appropriate care to implement this policy in a manner that minimizes its impact on the overall investment returns that support the mission of the Seminary and that they periodically offer reports to the Board as to progress.



Our view as Trustees is that Union should take these steps on moral grounds. As people of faith and good will, we care deeply about our planet and all that dwells therein, and we are determined to pursue practices that heal, not harm, our environment.