(Reuters) — Britain’s largest private pension fund asked a London court on Tuesday to block a landmark trial over its alleged failure to come up with a credible plan to divest from fossil fuels.
The £82 billion ($103 billion) Universities Superannuation Scheme is facing legal action from two of its members over its continued investments in coal, natural gas and petroleum.
The trial was blocked last year by London’s High Court, but the two academics behind the claim asked the Court of Appeal to revive it on Tuesday in a case that could open up other pension funds to similar legal action.
They want to bring a so-called derivative action on behalf of USS against its directors, a process that has also been launched by the environmental rights organization ClientEarth against Shell.
Their lawyers told the Court of Appeal that investing in fossil fuels posed a “significant and increasing”
; financial risk to USS that its directors failed to address.“Through a combination of international law, political pressure and market forces, the investment market for fossil fuels will decline over time,” attorney David Grant said in court filings.
Lawyers representing USS argued that the case should be dismissed because the system’s fossil fuel investments have not caused any loss to USS or the two academics, which is necessary for a derivative suit to proceed.
USS announced in 2021 that it aims to be net zero by 2050.
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