UNITED KINGDOM, March 10, 2025 (WAFA) - A broad coalition of Welsh organizations – ranging from grassroots activists to trade unions, faith groups and political parties – has issued an urgent call for divestment from companies implicated in violations of international law and human rights abuses against Palestinians, according to a press release issued by Palestine Solidarity Campaign groups in Wales.

According to the release, It is taking this call to the next meeting of the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP), which manages pension investments on behalf of local government pension funds. We will be joining with activists to lobby its meeting at the Swansea Guildhall on Wednesday 12 March – with our colorful banners. We will be there from 9.30am.

Recent research from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign revealed that £1.1 billion of Welsh local government pension funds are invested in companies associated with illegal settlements, apartheid infrastructure, financing and arms manufacturing, noted the release, adding: “These companies are directly or indirectly linked to the ongoing human rights violations in Palestine, including mass casualties, forced displacement and the denial of basic human rights, as documented by the United Nations, Amnesty International, and numerous other organizations.

The coalition’s letter highlighted that pension funds in jurisdictions including Norway, the Netherlands and increasingly in the UK, have already started to divest from such companies, setting a clear ethical precedent.

The Local Government Association has commissioned a legal opinion on the ability of investment funds to take 'non-financial factors' into account, said the release. “This opinion confirms that funds are certainly able to take ethical considerations into account, and should be consulting with scheme members, including their representative bodies such as trade unions,” it read.

Zahid Noor, interim convenor spokesperson for PSC Cymru, said: “We welcome the growing support from a diverse coalition of faith groups, trade unions, political parties, climate, peace and campaigning organizations. Together, we are demanding divestment and ethical pensions that reflect our values of justice and sustainability.”

“Ensuring Welsh pensions meet the highest ethical, human rights and environmental standards is both a moral obligation and a prudent financial responsibility,” stressed the release.

The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP), which manages pension investments on behalf of local government pension funds, has a unique opportunity to lead by example and align its investments with these principles, it addd.

“Pensions should not come at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable people. We have made the WPP aware that a genocide has occurred in Gaza, and it must stop funding this injustice. Thousands are calling for decisive action – WPP must act now,” read the release.

The coalition calls on the WPP to:

• Initiate divestment from companies listed on the UN Human Rights Office database for operating within illegal settlements.

• Implement robust screening processes to ensure funds are not allocated to companies complicit in violations of international law, with active engagement from WPP fund managers.

• Adopt an ethical investment strategy that explicitly prohibits investments in companies aiding violations of international law.

• Immediately divest from Elbit Systems Limited, Israel’s largest private arms manufacturer, and permanently exclude the company from future investments. Elbit supplies 85% of the drones and other military equipment used by the Israeli military, which has been deployed in attacks on Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties and alleged war crimes.

PSC Cymru welcomed the intervention by the Future Generations Commissioner, who called on the First Minister to initiate an urgent review of public sector pensions in Wales.

Joint signatories:

Amnesty Wales

Cardiff County Unison

Cardiff Stop the War

Cardiff Trades Council

Climate Cymru

CND Cymru

Crynwyr Cymru Quakers in Wales

Cymdeithas y Cymod

Global Climate Justice Group

Heddwch ar Waith

Muslim Council of Wales

Na’amod Wales, British Jews Against Occupation and Apartheid

Newport Trades Council

Plaid Cymru

Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru

Rhondda Cynon Taf Trades Council

Stop the War Cymru

Swansea Trades Council

Wales Green Party

Wellbeing Economy Cymru (WE Cymru)

West Wales Climate Coalition

XR Cymru

T.R.