Britain’s largest pension fund, the £82 billion (US$103 billion) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), has reportedly asked the country’s Court of Appeal to dismiss a landmark lawsuit brought by two members of its scheme over governance and climate concerns. The USS pension scheme savers are filing a derivative claim asking for permission from the court to proceed with a legal action on behalf of the company that runs the pension fund against its directors. According to Reuters, their lawyers told the Court of Appeal that fossil fuels investments pose a “significant and increasing” financial risk to USS that its directors were not addressing. “By a combination of international law, political pressure and market forces, the fossil fuel investment market will decrease with time,” their lawyer David Grant said in court filings. However, lawyers representing USS argued the case should be dismissed as the scheme’s investments in fossil fuels have not caused any loss to USS or the two academics, which is necessary for a derivative lawsuit to proceed.
