Did you know that …
… pension funds, administered by local councils across Britain, invest over £12billion* in companies enabling Israel’s genocide, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians?
* PSC research (02/25) for 81 Local Government Pensions Schemes
The Norfolk Divest Campaign started at the beginning of this year to call on Norfolk’s Pension Fund to remove investments that are ‘complicit’ because they are in companies violating international law and Palestinian human rights.
Across the country, examples include those that …
- produce weapons and military technology used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians such as BAE Systems making parts for Israel’s F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets,
- provide technology and equipment for Israel’s infrastructure of military occupation such as Amazon and Alphabet Inc (Google) who provide cloud computing infrastructure to the Israeli military and government, (e.g. Project Nimbus),
- or are active in illegal Israeli settlements based on stolen Palestinian land – notably Caterpillar, which manufactures bulldozers used by Israel to demolish Palestinian homes, schools and hospitals.
In addition, LGPS funds hold over £28m in Israel government bonds, which are in effect lending Israel money to carry out its atrocities.
So what’s this got to do with Norfolk?
The Local Government Pension Scheme operates across the UK for local government officers and many others employed in related services such as housing associations and care homes. In Norfolk, the Pension Fund (run by Norfolk County Council) supports the pension benefits to more than 100,000 scheme members and their dependents on behalf of more than 400 employers. Norfolk’s Pension Committee has responsibility for the fund’s investments. However…
The Norfolk Pension Scheme invests in 37 companies that are complicit with a total figure of £166,742,333! *
*£166.7 million is equivalent to 3.13% of the total assets in the Fund, which in 23-24 are £5.318b!
Norfolk Divest Working Party
A group of local Norfolk PSC members and supporters are working alongside Unison to run the Campaign. We are inspired by successful campaigns elsewhere in the country (e.g. 4 London Boroughs, 2 West Midlands Councils, Manchester and North Somerset) all demanding divestment from companies involved either directly or indirectly in arms production and supply of weapons used in “breaches of international law and human rights abuses.”
The argument isn’t just about withdrawing investments though, but redirecting them to sustainable and non-violent alternatives. In Bristol, for example, the demand on Avon Pension Fund is that they develop an ‘ethical investment policy that specifically seeks to divest at the earliest prudent opportunity.’
Each Pension Fund has to set out how it will deal with Environmental, Social and Governance issues. It is in the application of these concerns that matters of environmental degradation, human rights, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide can be considered. NPF is already committed to achieving the environmental objective of net zero in its investments and has a sophisticated framework for ensuring that happens. Norfolk Divest wants to see the same approach taken with those 37 complicit companies.
What has been achieved so far?
The Campaign is still in its early stages and we know from elsewhere it’s a long old haul. To date we’ve
- written to the Chair of the Pensions Committee, Cllr Tom Fitzpatrick, and received a detailed response from the Director of the Pension Fund, Glenn Cossey;
- attended a meeting of the Pensions Committee and observed the processes;
- lobbied councillors and other members on the Committee
- spoken at Unison’s Norfolk County Branch AGM (nationally Unison is a strong supporter of divestment);
- been in contact with PSC and divest groups in other of parts of East Anglia and the South East whose pension funds are in the same collective pool as Norfolk (the Access Fund).
Next Steps
- We will be seeking a meeting with members of the Pensions Committee to explore and question a number of issues in the letter.
- Looking to develop an email campaign for both scheme members and the general public to demand an end to complicit investments.
- Other steps include engaging with local District Councils, sympathetic MPs and any others who will help and support the Campaign.
What Can You Do?
- If you work for local government, or an employer paying into the Pension Scheme, raise the issue with colleagues and support the Unison County Branch in its campaign;
- Get involved in helping to run the Campaign – please contact info.norfolkdivest@gmail.com
- Lobby your local district council to pass a resolution to the Pension Committee
- Lobby your local Councillor rep on the Pensions Committee
- Look out for and sign the email petition we expect to launch shortly
Contacts
- For more information about the Norfolk Divest Campaign, please contact the Norfolk Divest Working Group, c/o Claire Collen on info.norfolkdivest@gmail.com and for Unison, the Branch Manager amanda.rudd@unisonnorfolkcounty.co.uk
- www.instagram.com/norfolkdivest/
Links
- To see how much Local Pension Schemes across the country, including Norfolk, are investing in complicit companies visit https://lgpsdivest.org/lgps-investments/
- For examples of local authorities responding to local campaigns visit https://lgpsdivest.org/timeline-of-divestment-milestones/
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