Seems irresponsible if you want the companies to change change them from within. A lot are researching alternatives and people still need fuel until that switch so scientists will.help.lead that and the fossil fuel companies have the money to fund research. Saying oil companies are solely repsponsible is not quite right when they supply to the users too. Would we really want them to just pack up shop and go that’s it then…no more cars or transport or plastic or chemicals or drugs or anything else synthesised from oil…..good luck
This comes down to whether you think you’re better off running and owning the biggest polluters and making them green, or ignoring/not owning them in the hope they’ll change through regulation.
My view is the former. ‘Green’ means owning as much of them as possible and having as many green minded employees as possible.
I like this move. The university is doing what it can to show some leadership.
No offence but oil companies are not going to recruit from birkbeck…
What next blacklisting any company that produces co2 from recruiting…
I love how they write “UK university” instead of Birkbeck, clearly not because no one cares what Birkbeck (who?) does… No the Guardian would never massage the news to fit their worldview.
Looks like no one read the article.
Students asked for this.
The university agreed.
The university is not a publicly owned building and people/companies do not have the right to free speech within them.
Not arguing for or against this, but I’ve been through undergrad and now PhD in the geoscience department of a top UK university, so I have a pretty good first hand experience of these recruiters. The major problem I have is that, because of how wealthy these companies are, they can afford to absolutely dominate the recruitment scene. If the university’s careers fair was anything to go by, you’d be forgiven for leaving with the impression that Big Energy, management consultancy, and finance are the only respectable options available to bright graduates. This is obviously not true, but these particular sectors get a disproportionate amount of exposure at top universities compared to how many students are (at first, at least) interested in them. Most of our undergraduates these days want to help the environment rather than destroy it, so I completely get why a large number of students are fed up with just seeing the same old corporations at careers events.
What subjects were the students who organised this studying?
Gee I can’t image why our energy bills are so high…
In time we will view the fossil fuel industry as more immoral and harmful than even something like the human trafficking industry, once millions start to die as a result of their decades of lobbying against climate action and spreading purposeful disinformation about climate change.
I can see the logic behind banning oil and gas companies. How do they expect to get metals for building, batteries, etc without mining, though? There was a company looking at collecting rocks from seabeds but that had major ecological problems too.
A bit short sighted. Given fossil fuels are here for a good few decades before renewable energy takes over would it be best for these young intelligent students to go on into these companies to drive the technology towards being greener?
What’s to stop them hosting private events for recruitment?
I would have thought some competition in the demand for the graduates might have been beneficial, and they could always refuse an offer independently, but thats not how things are done these days
Ahh well
*About 20% of UK universities already ban certain sectors from their careers services, including the tobacco, pornography and gambling industries.*
Just wondering how people feel about this line? All these comments about the importance of the fossil fuel industry. Gambling is a major sector in the UK employing well over 100,000 people. Why should they not be allowed to advertise at Universities if fossil fuel corps. are?
Too right good job.instead they should be allowing green eco recruiters instead.The world needs to move away from fossil fuels one baby step at a time.Im just glad I will not be around when the world is fucked beyond repair.
Uni culture is a bit of a shit show at the best of times. So I am not surprised by this. The cast Majority will be unaware this decision even took place let alone asked for it.
Does that include Conservative party recruiting as they are no1 in destroying our country
I don’t think top oil and gas firms will be looking to recruit from Birbeck anyway lol.
All this move does is take away eventually high paying jobs and careers from those who might not know these jobs exist in the first place, and a careers fare often helps with that.
These jobs will be filled regardless, whether its by students from low income backgrounds or those whose are well connected, or by immigrants.
Furthermore plenty of these firms are involved in driving the energy transition, all be it slowly and arguably could be sped up, so still a good place to be in the near future to get valuable experience working on clean energy sources
Fossil fuel companies will still be relevant for the next 50 years. Even if the UK/EU stops buying it, 3rd world counties will still buy for a good few decades.
So there are jobs there for aspiring Students, which now, they do not have access to. The University is hurting the job prospects of its student population.
If I was studying a course like Chemistry/Geology/Engineering/Marine Biology/Environmental studies and I had future aspirations to join a PetroChem company, I would be very angry with the decisions taken by the University, and the actions of the Student Body who recommended this idea, as it may have hampered my future career.
Most possibly, the students who recommended this, do not even have courses were PetroChem was a possible career, so they have sabotaged other students future jobs.
When I was an undergraduate, I think the elections were publicised like Vogon planning consents. On display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying “Beware of the Leopard”. The people who got elected to these committees were already friends with those on the committees.
It’s fucking UNBELIEVABLE that there are people arguing on behalf of such companies. Fuck fossil fuels, fuck the people who make a living raping our planet by selling them, and fuck anyone who defends such behaviour.
Not an exaggeration; if you defend fossil fuels, you are defending crimes against humanity.
22 comments
Seems irresponsible if you want the companies to change change them from within. A lot are researching alternatives and people still need fuel until that switch so scientists will.help.lead that and the fossil fuel companies have the money to fund research. Saying oil companies are solely repsponsible is not quite right when they supply to the users too. Would we really want them to just pack up shop and go that’s it then…no more cars or transport or plastic or chemicals or drugs or anything else synthesised from oil…..good luck
This comes down to whether you think you’re better off running and owning the biggest polluters and making them green, or ignoring/not owning them in the hope they’ll change through regulation.
My view is the former. ‘Green’ means owning as much of them as possible and having as many green minded employees as possible.
I like this move. The university is doing what it can to show some leadership.
No offence but oil companies are not going to recruit from birkbeck…
What next blacklisting any company that produces co2 from recruiting…
I love how they write “UK university” instead of Birkbeck, clearly not because no one cares what Birkbeck (who?) does… No the Guardian would never massage the news to fit their worldview.
Looks like no one read the article.
Students asked for this.
The university agreed.
The university is not a publicly owned building and people/companies do not have the right to free speech within them.
Not arguing for or against this, but I’ve been through undergrad and now PhD in the geoscience department of a top UK university, so I have a pretty good first hand experience of these recruiters. The major problem I have is that, because of how wealthy these companies are, they can afford to absolutely dominate the recruitment scene. If the university’s careers fair was anything to go by, you’d be forgiven for leaving with the impression that Big Energy, management consultancy, and finance are the only respectable options available to bright graduates. This is obviously not true, but these particular sectors get a disproportionate amount of exposure at top universities compared to how many students are (at first, at least) interested in them. Most of our undergraduates these days want to help the environment rather than destroy it, so I completely get why a large number of students are fed up with just seeing the same old corporations at careers events.
What subjects were the students who organised this studying?
Gee I can’t image why our energy bills are so high…
In time we will view the fossil fuel industry as more immoral and harmful than even something like the human trafficking industry, once millions start to die as a result of their decades of lobbying against climate action and spreading purposeful disinformation about climate change.
I can see the logic behind banning oil and gas companies. How do they expect to get metals for building, batteries, etc without mining, though? There was a company looking at collecting rocks from seabeds but that had major ecological problems too.
A bit short sighted. Given fossil fuels are here for a good few decades before renewable energy takes over would it be best for these young intelligent students to go on into these companies to drive the technology towards being greener?
What’s to stop them hosting private events for recruitment?
I would have thought some competition in the demand for the graduates might have been beneficial, and they could always refuse an offer independently, but thats not how things are done these days
Ahh well
*About 20% of UK universities already ban certain sectors from their careers services, including the tobacco, pornography and gambling industries.*
Just wondering how people feel about this line? All these comments about the importance of the fossil fuel industry. Gambling is a major sector in the UK employing well over 100,000 people. Why should they not be allowed to advertise at Universities if fossil fuel corps. are?
Too right good job.instead they should be allowing green eco recruiters instead.The world needs to move away from fossil fuels one baby step at a time.Im just glad I will not be around when the world is fucked beyond repair.
Uni culture is a bit of a shit show at the best of times. So I am not surprised by this. The cast Majority will be unaware this decision even took place let alone asked for it.
Does that include Conservative party recruiting as they are no1 in destroying our country
I don’t think top oil and gas firms will be looking to recruit from Birbeck anyway lol.
All this move does is take away eventually high paying jobs and careers from those who might not know these jobs exist in the first place, and a careers fare often helps with that.
These jobs will be filled regardless, whether its by students from low income backgrounds or those whose are well connected, or by immigrants.
Furthermore plenty of these firms are involved in driving the energy transition, all be it slowly and arguably could be sped up, so still a good place to be in the near future to get valuable experience working on clean energy sources
Fossil fuel companies will still be relevant for the next 50 years. Even if the UK/EU stops buying it, 3rd world counties will still buy for a good few decades.
So there are jobs there for aspiring Students, which now, they do not have access to. The University is hurting the job prospects of its student population.
If I was studying a course like Chemistry/Geology/Engineering/Marine Biology/Environmental studies and I had future aspirations to join a PetroChem company, I would be very angry with the decisions taken by the University, and the actions of the Student Body who recommended this idea, as it may have hampered my future career.
Most possibly, the students who recommended this, do not even have courses were PetroChem was a possible career, so they have sabotaged other students future jobs.
When I was an undergraduate, I think the elections were publicised like Vogon planning consents. On display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying “Beware of the Leopard”. The people who got elected to these committees were already friends with those on the committees.
It’s fucking UNBELIEVABLE that there are people arguing on behalf of such companies. Fuck fossil fuels, fuck the people who make a living raping our planet by selling them, and fuck anyone who defends such behaviour.
Not an exaggeration; if you defend fossil fuels, you are defending crimes against humanity.