Richmond Council Divest for Palestine: stop investing pension funds in complicit companies

Statement

This petition calls on Richmond Council to review its own treasury investments and to advocate for ethical divestment of pension-fund holdings with Wandsworth Council and the London CIV. We, the residents, workers, and students of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, call on Richmond Council — urgently and in the strongest terms — to use its powers of policy, advocacy, and oversight to ensure that funds connected to the borough are not used to fund or enable genocide, apartheid, or occupation, by taking the following actions: 1. Strengthen, adopt and action a Responsible Investment Policy — establishing clear exclusions for companies complicit in violations of international law, military occupation, or systematic human-rights abuses; embedding the UN Genocide Convention; and aligning with credible data sources (e.g. UN OHCHR and CAAT), with Palestine as an immediate priority. 2. Conduct a full review of all Council treasury investments to identify and divest from companies complicit in violations of international law and human rights — including those supplying weapons, supporting occupation infrastructure, or operating in illegal settlements — and ensure all future treasury investments comply with strengthened ethical and human-rights standards. 3. Urge Wandsworth Council, as the administering authority of the joint pension fund, together with the London CIV, to conduct a full review of all pension-fund investments and to divest from any identified complicit holdings as swiftly as possible, ensuring that all future pension investments align with strengthened ethical and human-rights standards. 4. Commit to full transparency by publicly reporting on review findings, advocacy actions, divestment outcomes, and ongoing monitoring in clear, accessible updates for residents. We further request that Richmond Council formally forward this petition and its resolutions to the Joint Pensions Committee for consideration.

Sign this petition

Details

This petition aligns with SI 2016/1241, recognising Wandsworth as the pension-fund authority while Richmond retains powers over its treasury investments and may advocate on investment ethics within its lawful remit. Richmond & Wandsworth Councils’ Local Government Pension Scheme (known as the Wandsworth Pension Fund) currently invests over £138 million in companies implicated in human-rights violations and breaches of international law in Palestine. These companies — including Alphabet, Amazon, AXA, BAE Systems, Barclays, Boeing, Booking.com, Caterpillar, L3Harris, Mitsubishi, Motorola, and Palantir — profit from supplying weapons, financial services, surveillance technology, infrastructure, and other business activities that support Israel’s illegal military occupation and settlements, thereby contributing to the ongoing colonisation of Palestinian territory. While Wandsworth Council acts as the administering authority for the joint pension scheme, Richmond Council has a duty to set and uphold the ethical standards expected of public funds associated with the borough. It must seek assurance and advocate that investments made on its behalf — and all other council-controlled investments, including treasury funds — meet robust ethical, human-rights, and fiduciary standards. Yet Richmond Council does not appear to have any publicly available Responsible Investment Policy covering either its pension or treasury holdings, and its Treasury Management Strategy only addresses financial risks. This exposes council-associated funds to companies complicit in human-rights abuses and violations of international law — including in Palestine — contrary to Richmond’s responsibilities to prevent complicity in grave breaches such as military occupation and genocide. Divestment is both an ethical imperative and a prudent financial strategy, mitigating reputational, legal, financial, and asset-devaluation risks associated with investments in companies engaged in unlawful or abusive practices.

Started by: Fiona Leach

This petition runs from 19/12/2025 to 19/03/2026.

1 person has signed this petition.

Sign this petition