Leiden University will not enter into any new research partnerships with companies in the fossil fuel industry that are not intensively and demonstrably committed to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The university will develop a new policy in the course of 2024 to reflect this position. The new rules will only take effect once the Executive Board has reached a decision on this.

Exceptions will only be made if a project clearly contributes to the energy transition. In this case, too, the necessity of collaborating with such a company will be assessed: a possible reason for collaboration could be, for example, because the company holds data that is essential for the research or knowledge that contributes in some other way to the energy transition.

Projects that do not contribute to the energy transition but are carried out with companies that do commit to the Paris climate goals will also be assessed. 

Current projects that do not meet these conditions will be completed. 

These principles will be incorporated into new policies that provide clear guidelines and advice for researchers. This statement may become more stringent or be supplemented or amended in some other way if it becomes apparent that a contribution to the Paris Climate goals or the energy transition cannot adequately be demonstrated and/or if societal developments or cases encountered necessitate this. 

Read the Explanatory statement for more information