She took direct aim at the argument that divestment was ineffective in fighting climate change.

“The thought that one institution’s small investment level is inconsequential is analogous to the dangerous sentiment that in the context of a democratic system one vote is irrelevant because a single person does not affect change,” the letter said. “Or, in the context of an academic institution, it is analogous to the unacceptable belief that the education of one student is unimportant because a single person does not affect change.”

Advertisement

Figueres graduated from the university in 1979. Her intervention provides an important boost to a campus divestment campaign which is beginning to gather momentum.

source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/24/un-climate-chief-joins-alumni-calling-swarthmore-college-divest-fossil-fuels