"BOSTON - Harvard University is ending its investments in fossil fuels, the school's president said on Thursday, drawing praise from divestment activists who had long pressed the leading university to exit such holdings.

In a letter posted on Harvard's website, President Lawrence Bacow said the school's endowment had no direct investments in fossil fuel exploration or development companies as of June and will not make such investments in the future, "given the need to decarbonize the economy."

The university's indirect investments in the fossil fuel industry "are in runoff mode," he added. The indirect investments, made through private equity funds, make up less than 2% of the endowment, Bacow wrote.

Recently valued at about $42 billion, the most of any university, the school's endowment has been under pressure for years from students, alumni and other activists to sell off its fossil fuel holdings as a way to slow climate change."

Ross Kerber reports for Reuters September 10, 2021. [2]