THE UNIVERSITY of Reading will be selling all of its remaining investments in fossil fuels.

In addition, the university's investments will exclude any holdings in companies producing armaments, tobacco or pornography.

The decision means the university's investment portfolio will be fully divested from all fossil fuel companies within months, following the appointment of fund manager Cazenove Capital.

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The decision was reached after giving a significant weighting to ethical, social and governance issues in the choice of a new manager.

In particular, given the university's world-leading research into climate change and sustainability, an investment manager was sought with a credible and proven track record in helping UK universities in fully divesting from fossil fuel companies.

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Professor Robert Van de Noort, vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, said: "We are very pleased to deliver on our pledge to remove our investments from fossil fuel companies.

"In fact, we are going further than the original pledge, and are now committing not to have any direct or indirect holdings in fossil fuel companies.

"As an institution, we are a world leader in environmental research and have already made great strides to reduce our carbon emissions and to support environmental sustainability.

"After a rigorous appointments process, we are confident that our new fund manager has the capability to align our investments with our mission to understand and fight climate change.

"We are pleased that Cazenove’s parent company Schroders has committed to be carbon neutral from 2020 and to use 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025, further demonstrating its commitment to protecting our planet."

The university's next target towards carbon zero is a 45 per cent energy reduction target by 2021.

Dan Fernbank, energy and sustainability manager at the University of Reading, said: "Our students, staff and local community expect us to demonstrate environmental leadership, and sustainability is at the heart of what we do.

"There is always more work to be done, and we will continue to run a strong sustainability programme to deliver lasting change. "We are committed to embracing new and innovative ways to help the university minimise its carbon footprint."