A key aim is to end investment in companies that derive more than five per cent of turnover from the extraction of thermal coal or oil and gas from tar sands by January 2018.

The University has already moved £3 million (five per cent) of its endowment funds into a fund that invests in companies which enhance the environment and life of the communities in which they operate.

Professor Guy Orpen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, said: "We are proud to be a sector-leader in sustainability - from the research we support, the curricula we teach and the student experience we offer, to the way we behave as an organisation."

The commitment follows a campaign by the University’s Fossil Free Society, formed in 2014 by former student Rachel Simon.

Nick Wood, Head of Research of the Fossil Free Society, said: "Our agreed plan of divestment with the University is one of the clearest and most wide-ranging in Britain, so we’re very pleased. The target on coal and tar sands is very strict, clearly defined and time-limited – the gold standard for divestment targets. How far the University divests from fossil fuels will depend on how this policy is implemented."

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