Dear Moral Money,

I am a keen DIY investor and manage my own and my wife’s Isas and self-invested personal pensions. I read the financial press and take active positions on stocks – and I have a great record of beating the market.

I spotted an opportunity about a year ago in oil stocks. Economies were kicking back into gear and consuming more energy, but oil companies were not restarting exploration projects. Demand was set to outstrip supply so I knew prices would rise. 

I added Shell and BP to our investment portfolios and have made over 50pc and pocketed good dividends. It has been one of my best trades and I think it has more legs as tensions with Russia, which supplies us with gas, escalate. I wouldn’t be surprised if the price of oil hit $100 in the next few weeks.

There is just one problem. My wife is a committed environmentalist and would be distraught if she knew that her retirement was being funded by fossil fuels. While stopping short of attending Extinction Rebellion rallies, she refuses to fly and has even stopped eating meat because of the environmental impact. 

My view is that of course fossil fuels are bad for the planet, but it would be a disaster if we suddenly gave up on oil and gas. Plus, the biggest firms are key to a transition to renewable energy. My wife would not understand this nuance if I told her, but do I need to anyway? 

YS, via email

Backing oil stocks was a savvy move. It is an investment we have written a lot about in the past year and the outlook still looks good for the sector. 

Your wife trusts you to manage her money and you have been very successful. But investing in something that so clearly goes against her values is a breach of that trust, even if the reality is more complicated. 

Owning up the investment call is crucial, but you need to work to frame it in a positive way. Start with some raw data. Shell is building floating wind farms off the Scottish coast, has launched a $1.4bn (£1bn) fund to invest in clean energy startups and is even designing and building electric ferries in Singapore.

By 2030, BP expects to achieve a 10-fold increase in low carbon investment, with up to 8-fold increase by 2025.

This shows the biggest polluters are part of the solution to climate change and they are funnelling their profits into positive projects, as well as paying shareholders.

You could tell your wife that she can have her cake and eat it: top investment returns while accelerating the transition to renewable energy. Hopefully she will agree with you and tell you to stay invested. If not, then there are plenty of “green” investment funds to choose from, such as those on our Ethical 10 list. 

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below and by emailing moralmoney@telegraph.co.uk.

You can also put any question to us (and anonymously) by using the email address above.