GB News co-owner ‘cashing in on climate chaos’ after leap in fossil fuel investments, critics say

Paul Marshall is the chair of the hedge fund Marshall Wace, whose declared holdings in fossil fuel companies almost tripled to $2.8bn in the first quarter of 2026. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Paul Marshall is the chair of the hedge fund Marshall Wace, whose declared holdings in fossil fuel companies almost tripled to $2.8bn in the first quarter of 2026. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images GB News co-owner ‘cashing in on climate chaos’ after leap in fossil fuel investments, critics say Exclusive: Campaigners argue news channel’s attacks on climate action ‘work in financial interests’ of Sir Paul Marshall The hedge fund run by the co-owner of GB News almost tripled its investments in fossil fuel companies in the first quarter of 2026 to $2.8bn (£2.1bn), the Guardian can reveal. Critics have accused Sir Paul Marshall of “cashing in on climate chaos” and have claimed the news channel, which frequently attacks climate science and action, was “working in its owner’s financial interests”. Marshall is the chair and chief investment officer of Marshall Wace Asset Management, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds. Analysis by the Guardian and DeSmog shows the biggest increase in Marshall Wace’s declared fossil fuel investments was in oil company Chevron. Marshall Wace tripled its shareholding, boosting its value from $196m at the end of December to $864m at the end of March. Marshall Wace had no stakes in ConocoPhillips, Shell, or the major fracking firm Devon Energy at the end of December, but by the end of March held stakes of $163m, $72m, and $35m respectively. In contrast, Marshall Wace’s investment in renewable energy and battery companies fell by 30% over the quarter, to $415m. A Marshall Wace spokesperson said the analysis was “partial and inaccurate” but declined to provide alternative figures. Globally, investment in clean energy is rising rapidly , while fossil-fuel investment stagnates, with twice as much money now going into green energy, according to the International Energy Agency. Marshall said last year that the UK had been infected by “climate derangement syndrome” and that the extent to which global heating was being caused by human actions was “still subject to debate”. Marshall told the rightwing Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference on 23 June that net zero was “an ideology of fear and destruction, giving a new excuse for state interference and to deconstruct meritocracy”. View image in fullscreen Paul Marshall addressing the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship last month. Photograph: youtube/ALC The world’s climate scientists, in reports signed off by 192 national governments, have been clear for more than a decade that about 100% of global heating since 1950 has been caused by human emissions and activities. “Net zero is not an arbitrary slogan, rather it is dictated by the laws of physics,” said climate scientist Prof Sir Brian Hoskins recently. “To halt warming, net greenhouse gas emission