--- title: Fossil Fuels Climate Change: Health Experts Call For Divestment description: Some of the world's leading doctors and health researchers called on charities to divest from fossil fuel companies in an open letter. canonical: https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-25T16:48:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:32:18.037Z article:section: Health og:title: Fossil Fuels Climate Change: Health Experts Call For Divestment og:description: Some of the world's leading doctors and health researchers called on charities to divest from fossil fuel companies in an open letter. og:url: https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3191ebfa59d0746d/69885854428a9e48d5ccde53/climate-change-singapore.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: climate change singapore og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Fossil Fuels Climate Change: Health Experts Call For Divestment twitter:description: Some of the world's leading doctors and health researchers called on charities to divest from fossil fuel companies in an open letter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3191ebfa59d0746d/69885854428a9e48d5ccde53/climate-change-singapore.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Leading Health Experts Call For Fossil Fuel Divestment to Avert Climate Change ## Video: Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather? [Watch (HLS stream): Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LQufbOt9.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2013-11-11. Is the frequency of extreme weather events a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions? Climate scientist Bill Patzert explains._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 25, 2015 4:48 PM UTC  Singapore skyline at sunset and cracked earth Singapore skyline at sunset and cracked earthGetty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 25, 2015 4:48 PM UTC More than 50 of the world’s leading doctors and health researchers called on charities to divest from fossil fuel companies in an open [letter](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/25/do-no-harm-wellcome-trust-should-not-profit-from-fossil-fuel-industry) Thursday. The letter, published in the _Guardian_, argues that climate change poses a dire risk to public health and that fossil fuel companies are unlikely to take action to reduce carbon emissions without prodding. “Divestment rests on the premise that it is wrong to profit from an industry whose core business threatens human and planetary health,” the health experts wrote. The case for divestment brings “to mind one of the foundations of medical ethics—first, do no harm.” The letter is the latest show of support for efforts to halt climate change from the medical community. Recent research has outlined a variety of public health issues caused by climate change, from heath stroke deaths to increased asthma rates. Just this week a [study](http://time.com/3931148/climate-change-health/) in _The Lancet_ outlined how climate change could erode 50 years of health advances. **Read More:** [How College Kids Helped Divest $50 Billion From Fossil Fuels](http://time.com/3419456/fossil-fuel-divestment-climate-change/) The open letter alluded to those impacts and suggested that divestment would be the best way for global charities to address them. Engaging with fossil fuel companies’ boards has not been shown to work, the researcher wrote, likening the oil industry to the tobacco industry. “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,” researchers wrote. The long list of signatories include the editors of _The Lancet_ and _BMJ_, leading medical journals, as well as medical professors from across the United Kingdom.The letter specifically calls on the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation, two nonprofits that are leading contributors to global health causes, to divestment their multi-billion endowments from fossil fuel companies. Together the companies control total endowments worth more than $70 billion. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/"},"headline":"Leading Health Experts Call For Fossil Fuel Divestment to Avert Climate Change","datePublished":"2015-06-25T16:48:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:32:18.037Z","description":"'Divestment rests on the premise that it is wrong to profit from an industry whose core business threatens human and planetary health'","url":"https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/","keywords":["Public Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3191ebfa59d0746d/69885854428a9e48d5ccde53/climate-change-singapore.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3191ebfa59d0746d/69885854428a9e48d5ccde53/climate-change-singapore.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"climate change singapore","caption":"climate change singapore","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/","name":"Leading Health Experts Call For Fossil Fuel Divestment to Avert Climate Change"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Is Climate Change Causing Extreme Weather?","description":"Is the frequency of extreme weather events a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions? Climate scientist Bill Patzert explains.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LQufbOt9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-11-11T17:00:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LQufbOt9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/","duration":"PT2M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3935564/health-experts-fossil-fuel-divestment/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```