Yale Eyes Steps to Align Investments With Climate Concerns

Yale University is asking the outside managers of its $20.8-billion endowment to consider the impact of the institution’s investments on climate change, reports The New York Times. In a letter, David F. Swensen, Yale’s chief investment officer, stopped short of recommending divestment from fossil-fuel industries but suggested managers avoid firms that do not take sensible “steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Universities have come under increasing pressure from student activists and environmentalists to pull endowment money from the coal, oil, and gas stocks. Mr. Swensen, who has run the closely watched Yale fund since 1985, told the Times that “divestment is a blunt tool” but that considering the financial implications of climate change and possible government moves to curb emissions “is a valuable experiment. We will see how it plays out.”