Written by Janset An
Staff and faculty at the LSE have launched a petition addressed to senior management condemning the conclusions of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Review that was carried out earlier this year. So far, the petition has garnered over 134 signatures, and the undersigned are expecting a response from the university by Tuesday, December 2.
The group have two demands: LSE’s immediate divestment from ‘egregious activities’ and the adoption of an Ethical and Sustainable Investment Policy (ESIP) to guide financial policy. They have proposed alternative investment avenues, such as low emission technologies, promotion of pay equity across gender, and the circular economy. They also call for the creation of a Community Oversight Group to keep the Investments Sub Committee accountable to the implementation of ESIP when managing investment funds.
This comes in the wake of an earlier ESG review undertaken in June 2024. LSE Council initiated a review of the School’s ESG Policy, with the intention of addressing “both the questions regarding LSE’s investment policies and practices, and appropriate arrangements for ongoing governance and oversight.” The process was pulled forward by a year in response to increased student mobilisation calling for divestment, with the campaign culminating in the encampment of the Marshall Building for over a month in May 2024. It was dismantled on 17 June 2024, with LSE becoming the first university to evict its own students in the UK after being granted an Interim Possession Order.
The Council formed an ESG Review Group composed of independent experts on investment policy from LSE and a Consultative Group that consisted of three academics, three staff, and three students. The latter was tasked with representing the wider campus community by critically engaging with and advising the former on its recommendations to the Council.
After months of deliberation and four formal meetings between the two groups, on 10 July 2025, the Council announced the adoption of the following policies as informed by the Review Group’s findings: holding annual General meetings, pushing for increased transparency surrounding LSE’s endowments, and revisiting their policies every three years as opposed to five.
However, staff have been expressing great concern over this outcome. One member of professional services staff has told The Beaver: “The Review Group Report and Council’s statement made it explicit that the university will continue to prioritise maximising returns on investments above human rights and environmental concerns. Many of us in the LSE community find this abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Their demands centre around the claims made in LSESU Palestine Society’s report ‘Stakes in Settler Colonialism’, published in June 2025. The report explains that there is at least £131 million invested in the following ‘egregious activities’: crimes against the Palestinian people, the global arms trade and climate breakdown. For instance, LSE currently invests in 21 European financial institutions, like HSBC and Barclays, that are listed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights as involved in illegal settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian territories. LSE also has investments in 176 companies like BP and National Grid, which are involved in the extraction and distribution of fossil fuels.
The petitioners highlight that the proportion of LSE’s portfolio value that the investments associated with egregious activities contribute to has increased by 5% since 2024.
They also underscore that divestment has been a policy action that the campus community has endorsed en masse. The SU held a referendum in 2024 that saw 89% of votes favour divestment from fossil fuels and weapons. In 2025, 88.6% of students voted in favour of the SU acknowledging the ongoing genocide in Palestine – this vote further increased the impetus for calls of divestment from activities that violate human rights. A representative of the SU has said, “
Despite collective opinions and the reports of the Consultative Group, petitioners argue that the Review Group has failed to consider divestment from these holdings. On the other hand, the Review Group argued in their report that the interpretation of international law is inherently subjective and cannot be applied to LSE’s holdings without it becoming an explicitly politicised matter.
They also mention that international law is unanimously understood to regulate relations between states, but there is no such unanimity surrounding its enforceability in the activities of private firms. Subsequently, the Council reported that concerns for the treatment of Palestinians would be “explicitly placed beyond the purview of the Review.”
The petitioners note that other institutions have responded to calls of divestment from their commitments. Recently, King’s College Cambridge announced that it would be excluding investment from arms companies engaged in illegal activities like “the occupation of Ukrainian and Palestinian territories.” Similar shifts in rhetoric have taken place in other universities, such as Trinity College Dublin and King’s College London.
Staff and faculty are calling for LSE to follow suit and to adopt the Consultative Group’s ESIP framework. The group has outlined how the LSE has a commitment to abide by its own Ethics Code, its Sustainability Strategic Plan and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. Multiple representatives have asserted that refusing to adopt this framework “goes against the School ethos of striving for the betterment of society”.
LSESU remains committed to our democratically passed policy calling for divestment. This policy reflects what students want and we will continue to lobby LSE to divest in line with students’ priorities.
We recognise that divestment is a deeply important issue for many students across our community.
To ensure transparency and keep our members informed, the Sabbatical Officers will be providing regular updates on all our campaign work, including divestment, through our website.
We encourage all students who wish to see progress on this issue to get involved. You can support this campaign by sharing our petition and participating in our campaign processes. Student voice and engagement remain central to how we advocate and lobby for change at LSE.
An LSE spokesperson responded:
“Following the recent review of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy, LSE remains fully committed to strengthening our approach to responsible investment.
“The Review Group was comprised of experts from across the School to oversee the process and make recommendations to Council. To further facilitate the work of the Review Group, a separate Consultative Group was created, consisting of nine members of the LSE community (both staff and students) to provide insight and feedback across the year. The review itself included a thorough assessment of the policy and addressed questions raised by LSE students and staff related to the School’s investments.
“As a result of this project, beginning this academic year LSE will review the current investment filters related to fossil fuels, tobacco and armaments to further reduce our exposure to these sectors, as appropriate.
“LSE Council will maintain the current approach to review the ESG policy every five years, as is the general practice at peer institutions.
“The ESG report is available to read on the LSE website.”
