World’s richest university will appear in court on Friday to seek dismissmal of lawsuit brought by students calling for it to pull investments out of coal, oil and gas companies. Lawyers for Harvard University will appear in court on Friday afternoon to fight off attempts to force the world’s richest university to dump coal, oil and gas companies from its $36bn (£23bn) endowment.
A lawsuitfiled late last year by seven law students and undergraduates argues the university has a duty to fight climate change by pulling out of fossil fuel companies.
The university and the state of Massachusetts, which is also named in the lawsuit, are asking the judge to dismiss the case.
But a student sit-in at the Harvard president’s offices last week – and the rapid expansion of the campus divestment movement – suggest that the university can expect continued pressure.
