Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This note explains the loss on the fossil fuel claim in this court case but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors\u2019 duties.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This note explains the loss on the fossil fuel claim in this court case but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors\u2019 duties.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-10T16:08:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T16:08:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-10T16:08:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"This note explains the loss on the fossil fuel claim in this court case but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors\u2019 duties.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Photo: Anthony M via Wikipedia\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Publications\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/?post_type=publication\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Policy publication\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/?publication-type=policy-publications\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\",\"description\":\"The Grantham Research Institute at LSE carries out world-class research on climate change and the environment.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","description":"This note explains the loss on the fossil fuel claim in this court case but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors\u2019 duties.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","og_description":"This note explains the loss on the fossil fuel claim in this court case but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors\u2019 duties.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/","og_site_name":"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","article_modified_time":"2025-04-10T16:08:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/","name":"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-10T16:08:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-10T16:08:58+00:00","description":"This note explains the loss on the fossil fuel claim in this court case but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors\u2019 duties.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"caption":"Photo: Anthony M via Wikipedia"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Publications","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=publication"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Policy publication","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?publication-type=policy-publications"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/","name":"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","description":"The Grantham Research Institute at LSE carries out world-class research on climate change and the environment.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":["court case","fossil fuel divestment","litigation","pension fund","UK"],"publication-type":["Policy publication"],"topic_area":["Climate change laws and litigation","UK emissions policy"]},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/960px-Royal_courts_of_justice.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/77965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publication"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/77965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77969,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/77965\/revisions\/77969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77965"},{"taxonomy":"publication-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication-type?post=77965"},{"taxonomy":"topic_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic_area?post=77965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":77965,"date":"2025-04-10T17:08:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T16:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=publication&p=77965"},"modified":"2025-04-10T17:08:58","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T16:08:58","slug":"fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/fossil-fuel-divestment-directors-duties-and-derivative-claims-mcgaughey-and-davies-v-uss-ltd-and-its-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"Fossil fuel divestment, directors\u2019 duties, and derivative claims: McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its directors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Climate Change Laws of the World insight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2023, at that time the hottest ever month in human history, the UK Court of Appeal gave judgment in McGaughey and Davies v. USS Ltd and its Directors<\/em> [2023] EWCA Civ 873

Out of court, after the Truss mini-budget, years of strikes, and shortly after the complainants got leave to the Court of Appeal, USS capitulated: the CEO announced his resignation, and USS declared it would reverse the pension cuts. Despite this victory, McGaughey and Davies went on to lose in the Court of Appeal, but by then they had already succeeded in most of their goals. The key issue where they had limited success was in fossil fuel divestment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus of this Climate Change Laws of the World note is why they lost on the fossil fuel claim, but also how the case sets a positive precedent for beneficiaries seeking to uphold directors’ duties, thus it may be instructive for the future wave of litigation against directors complicit in climate damage.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n