A STUDENTS’ union has voted to boycott all oil, gas and mining industry recruitment as part of a campaign to divest from fossil fuels.

A motion, passed by the Student Council of the University of Sussex Students’ Union, means no oil, gas or mining industry recruitment will take place in the students’ union building or in union-controlled digital spaces.

The union will also now refuse to endorse or participate in any event where oil, gas or mining companies are invited.

Staff and representatives from the students’ union have been working with student campaigners to encourage the university’s careers service to also cut their ties with the industries, and adopt an “ethical careers policy” that explicitly excludes oil, gas and mining companies from recruitment opportunities.

Sussex University Students’ Union sustainability committee secretary Niamh Tickner said: “Universities have a massive influence in shaping the youth of today and have a responsibility to equip their students for the future in light of the accelerating climate and nature crises.

“By working with the Fossil Fuel industry, there are actively facilitating students into dead-end careers with no sustainable future and acting as if students’ best interest is at heart.

“Sussex needs to stop pretending, address their complicity and recognise that they are betraying their students by denying them a future in the climate emergency we are facing.”

The move follows a commitment from the university to divest from fossil fuels back in February 2018.

Fergus Green, climate campaigns coordinator at People and Planet, said: “Students at Sussex have come together to say, incredibly powerfully, that they don’t want oil, gas, and mining recruiters invited onto campus.

“Now, all eyes are on the careers service, who have a fantastic opportunity to engage with students and implement a strong ethical careers policy.”