Committee on Fossil Fuel Investment Principles

President Peter Salovey appointed the Committee on Fossil Fuel Investment Principles and asked it to articulate a set of principles that can guide the university in applying its ethical investment policy to this industry.

The charge of the committee is as follows:

  • Objective: To produce a report that recommends a set of principles to guide the Yale Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility in applying to fossil fuel producers Yale’s ethical investment policy set forth in The Ethical Investor. The committee should identify the activities, behaviors, and/or characteristics of fossil fuel producers that constitute “social injury” of such grave character that divestment is warranted.
  • The committee, whose members include experts drawn from the faculty, may consult with other experts in relevant fields.
  • The committee should collect and review input from the community.

The committee has completed its work, and the Yale board of trustees has approved a new set of investment principles.  See the announcement about the committee’s report.

Committee Members


Jonathan R. Macey (Chair)
Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law, Yale Law School


Ruth E. Blake
Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences


Kenneth Gillingham
Associate Professor of Environmental & Energy Economics, School of the Environment


Benjamin Polak
William C. Brainard Professor of Economics, School of Management, Department of Economics


Mary-Louise Timmermans
Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences


Xinchen Wang ’09
Director, Yale Investments Office