The largest student campaigning network in the UK, People and Planet have just produced their 2025/26 league. This is compiled annually and ranks 147 UK universities by sustainable and ethics criteria. 

People and Planet and this league table has been very influential in getting 117 UK universities to divest their own funds from fossil fuels. And they are now focussing on getting universities to commit to ‘fossil fuel careers’ by banning fossil fuel and mining recruitment. 

All this is great news but the problem is that staff at many of the universities that have divested have their pension contributions invested by USS which refuses to divest from fossil fuels.  And USS’s investments dwarf the university investments!  USS interprets fiduciary duty as being a duty to invest in the ‘best financial interests of members’ and claims that engagement with oil and gas producers works better than divestment. But this ignores the economic and social impacts of the Climate Crisis in the near future.

We want to work with People and Planet and follow their example by putting more pressure on universities to get them to urge USS to stop investing staff pensions in fossil fuels.  If your own university has divested you can help by sending this letter to your Finance Officer or Pensions lead and encourage others to do the same.