TIMES EARTH

Is now the time to divest your pension from fossil fuels?

Net zero targets and new technology imperil long-term bets on oil and gas. Some investors think they’re now too risky

Neil Davies, a professor of medical statistics, attempted to sue his pension scheme to divest from fossil fuels
Neil Davies, a professor of medical statistics, attempted to sue his pension scheme to divest from fossil fuels
VICKI COUCHMAN FOR THE TIMES
Lily Russell-Jones
,
Ben Cooke
The Times

Ewan Mcgaughey, 41, and Neil Davies, 39, have gone to great lengths to try and force their pension scheme to stop investing in fossil fuels. Their issue is not just about climate change. It is that as green policies gather pace and clean technologies improve, digging up these fuels may no longer be an effective way to make money.

“Our argument is a purely financial one,” Davies says. “According to our commitments under international law we will not reach net zero unless the fossil fuel industry is gone. These companies do not have a future and we are going to lose huge amounts of money.”

In 2021 the pair sought permission from the High Court to sue directors of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the