With the announcement of its Climate Commitment in September 2022, Duke vowed to dedicate all aspects of the university to researching climate action strategies and educating the next generation of sustainability leaders. However, this mission is threatened by the university’s close financial ties with the fossil fuel industry, including foundations that promote the denial of climate change. Groups tied to the fossil fuel industry are not reliable partners on research that is dedicated to solving the climate crisis. In fact, these groups have a financial incentive to slow the world’s transition to a clean energy economy so that we remain tied to the fossil fuels they produce. We will demonstrate in the following report that Duke receives significant sums of money from the fossil fuel industry and that this money is spent in ways that do not align with Duke’s climate action commitments.
Key Findings
Duke has received over $24 million from: foundations funded by fossil fuel corporations; foundations that propagate climate denialism; and individuals heavily associated with the fossil fuel industry.
More specifically, Duke has received over $6.2 million between 2010 and 2021 from fossil fuel foundations, including large sums from ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. (See Sec tion III for more information.)
Duke has received over $13.8 million between 2010 and 2021 from foundations that promote the denial of climate change, primarily the John Templeton Foundation. (See Section III for more information.)
Multiple climate-related research initiatives at Duke are partially funded by fossil fuel linked sources. (See Section IV for more information.)
The Energy Initiative was originally started by a $4 million grant by Ralph Eads, executive vice president of a natural gas company. Since then, the Initiative and its affiliates have propagated misinformation about natural gas as a so-called clean transition fuel.
The Energy Week Conference by the Energy Initiative has used this money to host speakers from Chevron, a major oil company.
The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions authored a research paper funded by Shell that outlined prospects for the expansion of biogas usage in the US, despite this energy source’s potential contribution to climate change.
Individual faculty members at Duke have conducted fossil fuel funded research that supports the needs of the fossil fuel industry. (See Section IV for more information.)
A professor in the Pratt School of Engineering conducts ExxonMobil-funded research in applied math that is used to improve fossil fuel drilling technology.
A professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment conducts Shell-funded research on algae-derived biofuels, which are a potentially problematic “clean” energy source and serve to obscure Shell’s primary business of drilling for oil.
The Duke Career Center allows companies in the fossil fuel industry to post job advertisements on its websites. At one point in February 2023, there were 87 jobs posted by oil companies and another 19 posted by companies in the drilling services industry. (See Section IV for more information.)
Policy Recommendations
Duke should no longer accept funding from fossil fuel companies and foundations that promote climate denial to fund any university activities. Instead, fundraising activities should be dedicated to supporting projects that promote research on environmental justice and climate action. Furthermore, we ask that more opportunities should be provided to the Duke and Durham communities to provide input on potential funding agreements. (See Section V for more information.)
The Duke Career Center should no longer act as a platform for fossil fuel companies to recruit students into the industry. This would entail banning these companies from posting on Handshake, preventing these companies from advertising at career fairs, and no longer hosting networking events with employees from these companies. (See Section V for more information.)
Duke should divest its full endowment, including direct and indirect investments, from the fossil fuel companies listed in the Carbon Underground 200 index. (See Section V for more information.)