Keep it in the ground

	Dear Robert, What has the Wellcome Trust gained from its investments in coal, oil and gas? The answer is that they have nose-dived in the past year due to falling share prices. By remaining wedded to the fossil fuel industry, the Wellcome Trust has lost £175m. BHP Billiton's share price slid by 45%, Shell's by 30%, Rio Tinto's by 29% and BP by 21%. Read the story here The first-class research funded by the Wellcome Trust is vital for understanding and treating diseases such as cancer and malaria. But betting on the fossil fuel industry has been bad business for Wellcome over the last year. The Keep it in the Ground campaign will keep pushing the Wellcome Trust (and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) to divest from fossil fuels. We worked with Medact, the global health NGO, to pool the voices of the medical profession against the Wellcome Trust's stance on their investments. Just last week we published a letter signed by almost 1,000 health professionals - available here. Yours Sincerely, James Randerson, Assistant National News Editor