From The Guardian, ‘Do no harm’: Medical professionals urge Wellcome Trust to end fossil fuel investments, we get the text of a letter from about 1,000 medical professionals regarding their demand that the Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation divest their fossil fuel holdings. While there is nothing wrong about their reasons for urging divestment, it is foolish to think that our society can give up fossil fuels without replacing that energy with something else—presumably a better type of energy. When we investigated what could conceivably supplant our use of fossil fuels, the only solution we could find was nuclear power. These professionals make a good case for divestment but they don’t think hard enough about where all that energy will come from if fossil fuel production ends. Still, it is worth it to reproduce this letter (many years later) for posterity.
Dear members of the Wellcome Trust executive board,
We write as concerned health professionals and academics in relation to the Guardian’s Keep it in the ground campaign calling on the Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation to divest from the world’s 200 largest fossil fuel companies over the next five years.
The Wellcome Trust is an outstanding philanthropic institution whose work has a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of millions worldwide. We congratulate the Trust on its leadership in promoting and funding research into the impacts of climate change, and hope that this work will continue to grow in line with the urgent threat to human health and survival. However, we were disappointed to learn of the Trust’s decision to continue to invest in fossil fuel companies.
It is uncontested that the majority of carbon reserves listed on stock exchanges must remain underground if we are to avoid exceeding a 2C rise in global mean temperature and the catastrophic health impacts this would have. Our current business-as-usual trajectory commits us to over 2C warming – a point scientists have described as the threshold between “dangerous”and “extremely dangerous” – within decades.
As the Trust acknowledges, avoiding this scenario demands an urgent transition towards clean energy. Its view, as set forth by Professor Jeremy Farrar, is that engagement with fossil fuel companies’ boards is a more effective way to support such a transition than divestment. However, there is little or no evidence to suggest that this approach holds a realistic prospect of reducing global fossil fuel production sufficiently in the limited time available.
We believe a complete transformation of the energy sector is needed, driven by strong climate policies, and that divestment has greater potential to bring this about. The ethical and financial case for fossil fuel divestment is well founded and has been supported by the president of the World Bank and the director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), both public health physicians. Through the political change it has helped catalyse, the same strategy played a vital role in the movements against apartheid and tobacco. As such, we welcome the statement that the Trust would consider this step if engagement proves ineffective.
Our primary concern is that a decision not to divest will continue to bolster the social licence of an industry that has indicated no intention of taking meaningful action. Indeed, many of these companies continue to use their considerable influence to delay political action, as tobacco companies have done previously. Shell’s lobbying against binding EU renewables targets and its decision to drill for Arctic oil, which cannot safely be burned, give additional cause for alarm. Further, having a financial interest in the extraction of “unburnable” reserves may restrict organisations’ capacity to advocate effectively for the policy framework that is needed.
Lastly, divestment rests on the premise that it is wrong to profit from an industry whose core business threatens human and planetary health, bringing to mind one of the foundations of medical ethics – first, do no harm. We believe that, in aligning organisations’ investments with their aims and values, it goes beyond a “grand gesture”. The question is not only one of direct, short-term impacts, but of leadership. Health organisations such as the Wellcome Trust have considerable moral and scientific authority, and a decision to divest has the potential to influence policy-makers, other investors and the public, in the UK and internationally.
We thank the Trust for its openness to dialogue and its commitment to transparency, and request that you make public what, specifically, the Trust aims to achieve through shareholder engagement, and by when. We would particularly like to know at what point Trust will divest should these aims not be met, whether on a company-by-company or sector-wide basis.
The undersigned
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Prof Sheila Adam, retired director of public health
Neill Adhikari, critical care medical practitioner
Dr Jonathan Adler, doctor
Dr Ashish Agara, consultant ophthalmologist and chair of indigenous committee of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
Sue Akehurst, counsellor
Dr Heba Al-Naseri, GP
Dr Roger Albin, professor of neurology
Dr Susan Albow, emergency medicine physician: As a physician, I feel it is the medical professionals responsibility to be the voice that represents health; a healthy Earth means healthy people existing in harmony with the natural environment.
Prof Priscilla Alderson, professor emerita of childhood studies and sociology researcher, recipient of Wellcome Trust funding on bioethics: I research the sociology of childhood and how the youngest generations are most direly affected by current political, economic and ecological policies. Climate change specifically affects the youngest generations.
Dr Sarah Alhulail, medical doctor
Dr Sujata Allan, GP registrar and paediatrician
Iñigo Romon Alonso, hematologist
Khaldoon AlSaee, consultant psychiatrist and senior pain registrar
Dr Malcolm Altson, family medicine practitioner
Peter Amlot, medical oncologist and immunologist
Roger Amos, retired consultant haematologist
Sharyn Amos, nurse
Jon Anderholm, counselor and teacher
Dr Josephine Anderson, psychiatrist
Dr Sarah Anderson, health protection consultant
Judith Anderson, psychotherapist
Adriana Voss-Andreae, medical doctor
Rachel Andrew, physiotherapist
Carl Antonson, medical doctor
Keith Antonysen, retired social worker for young people with mental health difficulties
Reza Antoszewska, nurse
Dr Elizabeth Archer, retired GP
Salome Argyropoulos, community health worker
Carroll Arkema, psychotherapist
Frank Arnold, doctor
Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, professor emeritus, St George’s University of London
Api Ascaso, occupational therapist
Dr Sue Atkinson, co-chair, Climate and Health Council
Rhonda Attwood, clinical psychologist
Harriet Aughey, paediatric doctor
Dr Trevor Aughey, GP
Katherine Aynilian, nurse
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Peter Bailey, GP
Rachel Bailey, retired community paediatrician
Celia Baker, dentist
Dr Hannah Bakewell, GP registrar
Dr Natalia Bakunina, medical doctor
Judith Baldacchino, psychologist
Crispin Balfour, psychotherapist
Jacquelyn Ballance, nurse
Dr Richard Banks, retired consultant physician
Paula Baranski, nurse
Joanna Santa Barbara, retired child psychiatrist
Dr Simon Barclay, GP
Jennifer Barker, doctor
Ronald A. Barker, optometrist
Dr Maggie Barker, public health doctor and Wellcome Trust Fellow
Lynn Barnett, retired consultant child and adult psychotherapist
Katherine Barraclough, nephrologist
Dr Robin Barraclough, GP: I am a rural GP who looks after the health of people on a tiny strip of coast to the west of the Southern Alps of new Zealand. The area is beautiful and remote. Climate change is denuding the local glaciers and threatening people livelihoods.
Prof Vincent Barras, professor
Kate Barrows, psychoanalyst
Dr Amy Baxter, post-doctoral researcher in HIV
Anne C Bayley, retired general surgeon, active Anglican priest and former professor of surgery, University of Zambia
Sarah Beardon, research assistant, patient experience research centre, Imperial College London
Dr Gale Bearman, GP
Katherine Beaven, eurythmy therapist
Elaine Becker, patient advocate: I developed asthma while living in a smoggy area, so I understand just how much dirty air is costing in lost productivity and increased healthcare demands.
Jane Beenstock, public health consultant
Bruce Bekkar, obestrics and gyneacology physician
Alex Bell, retired psychiatrist
Rosemary Bell, counsellor and psychotherapist
David Bell, consultant psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Former president of the British Psychoanalytic Society: The implications for health are both obvious and devastating.
Warren Bell, family physician: My province in Canada, British Columbia, is experiencing an extreme weather event (high temperatures, low precipitation) and is peppered with small and large forest fires.
Ray Bellamy, orthopedic surgery
Peter Bentzer, associate professor. medical doctor, anesthesia and intensive care
Rakel Berg, retired pediatrician
Jonas Berglund, medical doctor, nephrologist
Gus Bergonzoli, epidemiologist
Dr Jeanette Berman, psychology practitioner
Jean Berolzheimer, speech-language pathologist
Tazeem Bhatia
Chris Bird, biomedical scientist: I worked in the NHS for 30 years to improve people’s lives. Climate change will negate my life’s work.
David Birks, surgeon and senior lecturer
Dr Christopher A Birt, public health consultant
Mary Coll-Black, obstetrics and gynecology doctor
Prof Nick Black, professor of health services research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Ian Blackstone, retired orthopedic surgeon: I have seen a steady rise in respiratory complications in the industrial town where I practiced.
Alison Blaiklock, public health physician
Dr Andrew Blewett, consultant psychiatrist
Dr Nicolas Blondel, doctor
Andrew Blood, nurse
Johanna Blows, retired psychologist
John Blyth, emergency medicine practitioner
Sir Ian Gilmore Board, professor and member of the Climate and Health Council
Shannon Boldon, global health and development practitioner
Connie Boles, social worker
Brian Booth, former NHS governor
Aleta Borrud, retired physician
Diane Bos, psychologist
Gary Bota, doctor, emergency medicine
Dr Frank Boulton, retired medical practitoner
Sarah Bowen, podiatrist
Dr Peter Bowes, psychotherapist in trauma work
Chris Covert-Bowlds, family physician
Dr Juliet Boyd, retired consultant anaesthetist
Geoffrey Bradshaw, psychiatrist
Vana O’Brien, licensed clinical social worker
Dr Diana Brighouse, retired consultant in anaesthetics and chronic pain
Sadie Britton, shared lives host for young adults with learning difficulties
Stewart Brock, research fellow, department for health
Yosef Brody, clinical psychologist
Dr Catherine Brogan, chair, Public Health Action Support Team
Adrian Brooks, psychology lecturer
Peter Brown, retired surgeon
Dr Barbara Anne Brown, retired GP: I respect the Wellcome Trust and feel they should be trailblazers for ethical investment.
Katrina brown
Hamish Brown, surgeon
Jo Browne, therapist
Professor Richard Bruckdorfer, professor emeritus in biochemistry
Dr Ludwig Brügmann, doctor in gastroenterology
Therese Brummel, nurse
Dr Nigel Bubb, dentist
Don Buckley, retired pharmacist
Aoife Bulman, student in global health
Fedor Bunge, family health nurse and health visitor
Dr Judith Burchardt, GP
Susie Burke, psychologist
Nathan Burns, acupuncturist
Dr Chris Burns-Cox, internal medicine physician
John P Bursell, medical doctor, physical medicine and rehabilitation
Mark H Burton, retired health and social care manager and clinical psychologist
Kate Buser, acupuncturist
Andrew Buttery, healthcare simulator and educator
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Dr Philippe Calain, senior researcher
William Cameron, internal medicine physician
Colin Campey, GP: The need to keep it in the ground is so bleeding obvious that those who are against keeping it in the ground are putting short term financial interests ahead of human welfare, not to mention the welfare of all other life on Earth
Dr Daniel Campion, medical doctor
Dr Edward Cantrell, senior lecturer in rehabilitation and rheumatology
Melanie Cantua, healthcare consultant
Nicolás Carballeira, retired public health professional and clinical instructor
Damian Carey, doctor of chinese medicine
John Carlin, biostatistician and epidemiologist
Andrew Carr, professor of medicine in clinical immunology
George Carter, director, Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR)
Marilia Sa Carvalho, physician and senior medical researcher
Amy Mulick Cassidy, research fellow, medical statistics
Dr Bill Castleden, retired professor of surgery and vascular surgeon
Anne Chafee, nurse
Ellie Challans, nutritional therapist
Sir Iain Chalmers, medical practitioner, James Lind Initiative
Edward Chandy, oncology doctor
Dr Lucia Chaplin, junior doctor
Siobhan Chapman, occupational therapist
Dr Kate Charlesworth, public health physician: If we don’t act on climate change, there isn’t much point in doing anything else. The really frightening health impacts will be: morbidity and deaths from extreme weather events, food and water insecurity, conflict over scarce resources, and mass migration.
Mike Cherrington, mental health social worker
Prof Colin Chesterman, medicine, haematology, physician
Dr Rose Chesworth, medical researcher
Prof Imti Choonara, emeritus professor in child health
Dr Kit Oi Chung, GP
Cristina Cilla, anaesthetist
Colleen J Clark, retired public health research scientist
Robyn Cleaves, nurse
Tim Clench, clinical scientist
Margot Clerc, nurse
Ruth Clifford, psychologist
Judi Clinton, body therapist, Rolf Insitute
Dr Fiona Cochrane, medical practitioner
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Joanne Dahill, massage and bodywork therapist
K Danowski, biochemist
Beth Darlington, psychoanalyst
John Davenport, dental practitioner
Robert Davidson, mental health nurse and clinic advisor
Anne Davidson, clinical psychologist
Elisabeth Davidson, GP
Ms Glenys Davies, physiotherapist
Justine Davies, doctor and editor-in-chief
Prof Alan Maryon-Davis, public health doctor and honorary professor of public health, KCL
Hilda Daw, retired mental health social worker
Dr Elizabeth Day, senior lecturer in counselling and psychotherapy
James Day, neuromechanics PhD student
Dr Adrian Degeratu, retired dental surgeon
Anna Maria Delios, neurologist
Laura Derks, community health worker
Constance DeRooy, nurse
Kathy Dervin, climate and health specialist, California Department of Public Health
Amy DeSantis, public health researcher
Selena Despres, pharmaceutical technician
Dr Niels Detert, clinical neuropsychologist
Dr James Deutsch, physician
Dr Laura Devlin, GP
Reshma Dhrodia, social worker
Anja Dickel, clinical pharmacist
Karen Dike, retired nurse: I already see changes here in Colorado, including a devastating flood 18 months ago. Colorado has high ozone levels and air pollution from fracking has been measured at levels known to cause health issues.
George Dionyssopoulos, psychotherapist
Dr and Mrs Vernon Dixon, psychiatrist
James Dixon, sustainable healthcare practictioner
Dr Larry Dobson, family physician, retired
Joanne Dollard, researcher
Dr Jenny Donnison, clinical psychologist
Mark Dooris, professor in health and sustainability
Mitchell Dormont, psychotherapist
Dr Nicola Dowling, GP
Tom Drake, health economist working on malaria
Chantal Dransart, pediatric nurse
Dr Peter Draper, public health consultant
Diane Driver, retired academic at the Resource Center on Aging at the University of California
Roselyn Druce, naturopath
Barbara Le Duc, nurse practitioner in cardiology
Connie Duchene, nurse
Joan Dugdale, medical herbalist
Dr Graeme Duncan, oncologist
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Paul Eaton, orthopaedic surgeon
Dr Sue Edgley, medical doctor
Susan Beaney-Edwards, psychotherapist
Viv Edwards, anaesthetist
Kaye Edwards, director of health studies
Maggie Eisner, retired GP
Vienna Eleuteri, medical anthropologist
Patricia Elliott, occupational health physician
Judith Emanuel, retired public health practictioner
Jacqueline Emery, nurse and lecturer in health and social care: Redirect the money to renewables, ideally community based ones; solar power could revolutionise the lives of people in the developing world.
Markus Enderle, health officer
Paul English, environmental epidemiologist
Dr Jane Roderic-Evans, retired GP
Melissa Everett, GP registrar
Dr Garth Everson, retired medical ethics researcher
Rose Evison, psychologist
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Dr Ian Fairlie, radioactivity consultant
Dr Emily Farrow, GP
Kavi fatania, doctor
Dr Sophie Febery, trainee GP
Prof Gene Feder, professor of primary health care, University of Bristol
Martin Claude Felt, natural medicine specialist
Dr Jacqueline Ferguson, retired psychiatrist and psychotherapist
Jan Ferguson, occupational therapist
Dr Claire Ferraro, core medical trainee
Suzannah Ferron, marriage and family therapist
Michael Fisher, hearing researcher
Lana Fishkin, psychiatry
Daniel Flecknoe, speciality registrar in public health
Edward Fletcher, GP
Dr Rebecca Flower, anaesthetic registrar
Dr Jonathan Fluxman, GP
Joan Fogel, psychotherapist
Nicole Forbes, nurse
Dr Lindsay Forbes, visiting senior lecturer, division of cancer studies, King’s College London (KCL)
Abi Foreshew, cancer research practitioner
Dr Sallie Forrest, public health doctor
Sally Forsstrom, mental health nurse: I visit a number of declared mental health facilities in rural and remote New South Wales in Australia and witness first hand the impact of the environment on the mental health of citizens. I live in a region where water is precious and fossil fuel mining puts this resource at risk.
Margaretha Fortmann, nurse
Dr Maria Foulds, trainee GP
Dr Jürg Frank, retired internist
Michaela Franzén Malmros
Dr Alec Fraser, health policy and management
John Frevert, counselor
Merlin Friesen, emergency medicine practitioner
Harald Fuchs, psychotherapist
Marilyn Fuller, nurse and social worker
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Dr Stuart Galey, occupational physician
Jennifer Gamble, midwife
David Gangsei, clinical psychologist in trauma recovery
Alejandro Molina-Garcia, medical doctor in environmental and public health
Dr Katy Gardner, GP
Dr Bill Genat, health sociologist
Dr Mike Gent, public Health Doctor
William Andrew Gibbens, hospice spiritual care counselor: I see people every day suffering from respiratory and cardiac diseases, along with various kinds of cancers and other ailments. Through industrial activity, we are creating a situation for the body of the Earth that can easily be likened to these bodies overcome with disease and cancer.
Frederic A Gibbs, radiation oncologist
Rebecca Gibbs, nurse
Jennifer Gibson, retired missionary doctor
Arnold Gillespie, medical practitioner
Professor Anna Gilmore, professor of public health, University of Bath
Robert B Gilsdorf, surgeon, clinical professor in nutritional support,
Dr Mary Giltinane, medical doctor
Dr Jean Gladwin, consultant in public health
Cheryl Glancy, student nurse
Lezli Godfrey, nurse
Dr Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief, The British Medical Journal: This letter reflects the powerful new consensus among health professionals in the UK and beyond. We are deeply concerned about the threat of climate change to human health and survival. A decision by Wellcome to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in alternative energy would be hugely important both symbolically and practically … I am hugely encouraged by the strong voice now coming through from senior figures within healthcare globally calling for action to tackle climate change. Personally, of all the work I am involved in to improve health and healthcare through the BMJ, I consider this the most important.
Toby Gold, nurse
Dr Ursula von Goldacker, medical doctor, psychoanalyst
Prof Mark Goldberg, occupational and environment epidemiologist: It is high time that the people running grant organisations actually appreciate what the real world is about. We hear lots of preaching by these bureaucrats on knowledge translation – perhaps they should consider taking their own advice.
Silvia Oclander Goldie, child psychotherapist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist
Brydon Gombay, community psychologist
Dr Chris Good, GP
Benny Goodman, lecturer in health studies (adult), Plymouth University
Meic Goodyear, retired public health intelligence specialist
Gordon Gosse, physician
Anita Gould, psychotherapist
Leonor Gouldthorpe, mental health clinician
Peter W. de Graaf, retired surgeon
Robert Grant, senior lecturer in health and social care statistics, UCL
Matthew Gray, clinical scientist
Florencia La Greca, scientific researcher in immunology
Hal Greenham, body-centred psychotherapist
Jeremy Greenwood, family psychotherapist: There are days in London when the pollution is so bad that’s it impossible to exercise in any form outside. For people with asthmatic problems it’s obviously even worse.
Peter Grey, psychiatrist
Melinda Griffiths, GP
Alistair Griggs, social worker and manager
Carlos Grijalva-Eternod, nutritionist and trustee, MedAct
Kathy Grimaldi, nutritionist
Susanne Groenendaal, psychotherapist
Douglas Gross, musculoskeletal physiotherapist
Dr Rupert Gude, medical doctor
Angel Guevara, physician
John Guillebaud, family planning and reproductive health practitioner
Andy Guise, research fellow
Ann-Sofie Gumaelius, GP
Dr Ashray Gunjur, basic physician trainee
Tracy Gunston, nurse
Dr Cornelia Gutjahr, child and adolescent psychiatrist
Nicolas Guyon, PhD neuroscience student
Please continue reading the names of letter signatories at The Guardian.