Banks lobbied to ditch nuclear investments
'338 financial institutions made more than $685 billion available to the nuclear weapon industry since 2019.’
Quakers have been supporting a campaign to lobby bank and pension companies from investing in nuclear weapons.
Recent action focused on the pension company Royal London which had its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 7 June. Campaigners took to social media to register their dissent at the company’s nuclear investment.
The Investing in Change network – which organises the campaign – has already challenged companies including NatWest, HSBC, Barclays, People’s Pension and Nest, which have recently had their AGMs.
According to Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament (CND), major UK banks and pension funds have invested £32 billion in companies producing nuclear weapons.
The most recent ‘Don’t Bank on the Bomb’ report, released in November 2021, says that twenty-five companies remain heavily involved in the production, manufacture and development of nuclear weapons, despite them being prohibited by international law since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force in January 2021.
The report says: ‘These companies are supported by 160 banks that lend them money or underwrite bonds, while another 186 institutions seek to profit from holding shares or bonds. Altogether 338 financial institutions made more than $685 billion available to the nuclear weapon industry since 2019.’
The ‘Perilous Profiteering’ report was released by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and peace organisation PAX. The Investing in Change website contains links to tweet or send letters to NatWest, HSBC, Barclays, Royal London, People’s Pension and Nest, which all invest in companies that produce nuclear weapons and ‘need to hear that their customers think this is unacceptable’.
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