Most UK universities have now divested from fossil fuels – but are continuing to pass their staff pension contributions on to USS, which refuses to do so.
Thus, we are asking USS members to write to the finance director of their university (copied to the Pensions officer, and sent from their work address, if possible). We want the finance directors first, to attend the USS Institutions meeting in autumn 2026, and second, to engage with the Employers Pension Forum on this issue.
We attach a simple template, to make it as easy as possible, and list contact details below.
If you
· receive any commitment, please tell us (so we can remind the FD when the date of the Institutions meeting is settled)
· know of any colleagues who might send this email too, please alert them to it
*************
Template
To: your finance director (see list below)
Subject: USS and fossil fuels: Annual Institutions Meeting/UCEA Employers Pension Forum
cc. Pensions
Dear [insert finance director’s name],
The 2025/26 People and Planet university league showed that over 75% of UK universities (116/149) have now committed to exclude fossil fuel companies from their own investments (University League | People & Planet). I am proud to belong to a sector which is investing in the future of our students.
However, though USS receives from employers 14.5% for every 6.1% an employee pays in, it continues to invest in fossil fuels and the banks which finance them. The body representing universities in dealing with pensions, UCEA, says it does not have a mandate to explore whether it can take a position on climate change.
It would be sensible for universities to explore how they can remove the inconsistency between their own position and that of USS.
Please may I ask you to consider doing two things to encourage negotiators and nominated trustees to more actively engage on the issue:
· put a motion to the next Employers Pension Forum of UCEA
· put a question at the USS Institutions meeting in autumn 2026
I’d really appreciate any update you’re able to share on this request.
Yours sincerely,
[your name]
| Aberdeen | Mark White |
| Aberystwyth | Simon Crick |
| Aston | Craig Jones |
| Bangor | Martyn Riddleston |
| Bath | Martin Williams |
| Birkbeck | Aarti Rayrella |
| Bradford | Jodie Johnson |
| Bristol | Peter Vermeulen |
| Brunel | Anne Nathan |
| Cambridge | USS Pensions team |
| Cardiff | Darren Xiberras |
| Cranfield | Ian Sibbald |
| Dundee | Lee Hamill |
| Durham | Neil Scott |
| Edinburgh | James Gray |
| Essex | Richard Fern |
| Exeter | David Stacey |
| Glasgow | Gregor Caldow |
| Glasgow Caledonian University | Paul Queen |
| Goldsmiths | Imran Chughtai |
| Greenwich | Louise Watson |
| Heriot-Watt | Martin Pringle |
| ICR | Paul Norris |
| Imperial | Anna Caffyn |
| Institute of Development Studies (IDS) | Tim Catherall |
| KCL | Malcolm Ace |
| Keele | Pascale Vermassen |
| Kent | Jane Higham |
| Lancaster | Sarah Randall-Paley |
| Leeds | Jane Madeley |
| Liverpool John Moores | Rob Molloy |
| Loughborough | James Henry |
| LSE | Mike Ferguson |
| LSHTM | Andrew Dyer |
| Manchester | Carol Prokopyszyn |
| Manchester Metropolitan University | Andrew Hewett |
| Newcastle | Nick Collins |
| Nottingham | Matt Atkinson |
| Open | Paul Traynor |
| Oxford | USS Pensions team |
| QMUL | Karen Kroger |
| QUB | Paddy Anderson |
| Reading | Vin Wijeratne |
| RHUL | Rachel Burgess |
| Royal College of Music | Rachel Harris |
| Salford | Julie Charge |
| Sheffield | Joanne Jones |
| SOAS | Khadir Meer |
| Southampton | Alison Jarvis |
| St Andrews | Andrew Goor |
| Stirling | Rose Edwards |
| Strathclyde | Lucy Noble |
| Surrey | Matthew Knight |
| Sussex | Jacinda Humphry |
| Swansea | Sarah Jones |
| UCL | Charu Gorasia |
| UEA | Jason Brown |
| University of London | Annie Kent |
| UWE Bristol | Rachel Fleetwood |
| UWTSD | Gavin Bessant |
| Warwick | Rosie Drinkwater |
| York | Nigel Alcock |