INTRODUCTION

The recent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as a result of the Israeli state’s relentless bombardment and the ever-growing climate emergency has thrown a spotlight on how Local Authorities invest their pensions funds. Across the UK campaigns are building to press councils to divest millions of pounds from companies that are complicit in/profit from the occupation of Palestine, invest in weaponry and surveillance technology and/or are involved in the exploration and processing of fossil fuels. Some Councils, such as Waltham Forest and Islington, have already made concrete divestment commitments - demonstrating that where there is the will, there is a way.

TOWER HAMLETS PENSION SCHEME

The Tower Hamlets LGPS has millions of pounds of assets in a variety of investments. Council staff and those working for Admitted Body Status employers providing local public services pay into the LGPS over the lifetime of their employment. Employers also pay in contributions. This pot of money is invested by the Council with oversight from the Pensions Committee who act as Trustees. On retirement workers draw their pension from the fund.

THE TIME TO DIVEST IS NOW

We believe that the TH LGPS fund (which is made up of public money and the deferred wages of public sector workers) should not be used to fund, prop up or profit from human rights abuses, occupation, death and destruction. Properly planned ethical investment can ensure that the scheme is healthy and that its obligations are met.

a) Palestine

The current catastrophe in Gaza is the next chapter in over half a century of the oppression of the Palestinian people, who have lived under occupation and been denied their human rights, in violation of international law. Since October 2023 the tiny strip has been subjected to a military assault resulting in so much death, mutilation, injury and starvation, that the ICJ has judged that this may plausibly constitute a genocide.

The Israeli government continues to build illegal settlements, while destroying Palestinian property and segregating the population behind a wall, and East Jerusalem is occupied, annexed and separated from the rest of the West Bank by a ring of settlements and the wall.
Many companies contribute to this illegal situation and the violation of human rights by doing business with or in the illegal settlements, providing the infrastructure for the occupation, or supplying weapons and other equipment used to oppress the Palestinian people, including those used in the current military assault on Gaza.

b) Climate change

The threat posed by fossil fuelled climate change is real and urgent. Investments in fossil fuels are not only harmful to the environment but put the sustainable future of pensions at risk. Investing Local Government pension funds in fossil fuels is fuelling climate change and toxic air pollution, entrenching failing energy systems, fuelling repressive regimes, and contradicting political commitments to tackle climate change. Local Government pension funds can take practical action by, over a sensible time frame, moving their direct and indirect investments out of the fossil fuel industry.

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, CALL ON THE COUNCIL TO:

Bring forward a concrete plan to divest LGPS assets from any companies/investments:

1. On the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) list of Companies linked to Illegal Settlement in the Occupied West Bank.

2. On the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee BDS Sanctions List.

3. That manufacture/supply weapons and military technology to the Israeli government used in violations of international law.

4. Are involved with/profit from the exploration and/or mining/or processing of oil, coal and gas.

This Petition runs from 02/09/2024 to 03/03/2025.

688 people have signed this Petition.