CAMPAIGN: Divesting local authority pension funds from nuclear weapons

Scotland’s 11 local authority pension funds together held investments worth over £275 million in nuclear weapons companies in 2020. Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland and Nuclear Free Local Authorities have been working together to try to persuade these funds to divest.

We devised a model resolution on nuclear weapons divestment for Scottish Councils (see below). Now we need your help to encourage councils to pass the resolution:

Progress so far

  • 9 May 2019: Renfrewshire Council became the first to pass the model resolution calling on Strathclyde Pension Fund to divest from nuclear weapons.
  • 29 May 2019: West Dunbartonshire passed a resolution on  that calls on Strathclyde Pension Fund to divest from nuclear weapons and fossil fuels.
  • 26 June 2019: Midlothian Council passed a resolution calling on Lothian Pension Fund to divest from nuclear weapons.
  • 17 December 2019: East Ayrshire Council passed a resolution calling on Strathclyde Pension Fund to divest from nuclear weapons.
  • March 2021: Inverclyde Council passed a resolution that highlights the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and calls on Strathclyde Pension fund to eliminate financial exposure to arms companies.
  • Which council will be next? Watch this space!

What you can do

The more councils that pass resolutions, the greater the pressure will be on local government pension funds to divest:

Let us know if you need any help: nukedivestmentscotland@gmail.com.

Model resolution text

Model resolution encouraging Council Pension Funds to divest from companies involved in the production, maintenance or development of nuclear weapons in the UK or other Nuclear Weapon States

  • [IF APPLICABLE: Council is a member of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) and / or Mayors for Peace, the national / international body of Councils working for almost 4 decades to promote multilateral nuclear disarmament and a more peaceful world. Council passed [name of resolution] on [date] calling on the UK government to cancel Trident replacement plans and support the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).]
  • [Name of pension fund] manages the pension contributions of Council employees. [Name of pension fund] is known to hold shares in companies that are involved in the production or maintenance of nuclear weapons or their delivery systems, [if applicable] including some that undertake work on the UK’s nuclear weapons programme.
  • [IF APPLICABLE: Any investments in nuclear weapons producers are at odds with Council’s support for the TPNW and Council’s opposition to Trident renewal.]
    Such investments [also] present a growing risk to [name of pension fund]. The TPNW has increased the stigma associated with nuclear weapons and companies which continue to produce nuclear weapons after the treaty enters into force will face damage to their reputation which could affect their value.
  • Council calls on [name of pension fund] to:
  1. Work towards eliminating current and future financial exposure to companies that are involved in the production or maintenance of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, giving due regard to fiduciary duty.
  2. Council asks the Chief Executive to write to the convenor of [name of pension fund]’s pension committee to urge them to take full consideration of this resolution.