A coalition of local groups is now hoping to present the petition to Enfield Council’s pension fund board, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Enfield Civic Centre and (inset) pro-Palestine groups campaigning locally

A coalition of local pro-Palestine groups is set to submit a petition calling for Enfield Council’s pension fund to end investments in companies linked to Israel’s wars and occupations.

The divestment petition, led by Enfield4Palestine, has been signed by more than 3,300 residents since being launched last year. The group now hopes to present its case to the council’s pension fund board, on a date to be confirmed.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request by Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) found that, as of February, the nationwide Local Government Pension Scheme had £12.2billion invested in companies either directly supplying weapons to Israel, said to be providing “technology and equipment for Israel’s infrastructure of military occupation” or firms otherwise “active in illegal Israeli settlements based on stolen Palestinian land”.

In Enfield specifically, the local authority’s pension fund has nearly £59m invested in companies PSC says fit these definitions, according to the FOI data.

As well as weapons manufacturers such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin, the list of investments the PSC wishes to see divested includes brands such as Barclays, McDonald’s, Google and AirBnb.

The biggest single amount held by Enfield’s pension fund with any of the companies listed by PSC is a £6.4m investment into the holding company of online travel firm Booking.com, which promotes properties in Israel’s illegal settlements on the West Bank.

In response to the campaign, Enfield Council leader Ergin Erbil said the pension fund could not “make decisions that could harm its financial performance” and that making changes, despite other councils having pledged to do so in response to similar campaigns, was “difficult in practice”.

Campaign member Bernard Regan said: “Cllr Erbil said that the ‘pension fund will always ensure the fund’s manager…operates to high standards’. What higher standard can there be than the preservation of life?

“The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his former defence minister, for war crimes committed in Gaza, and the International Court of Justice has required the Israeli government to take steps to ensure that it does not commit acts of genocide, but there has been clear breaches of this instruction.”

Several UK councils, including Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Islington and Lewisham boroughs, have made pledges around divesting their pension funds in recent months.

Bernard said: “There are environmental, social, and governance (ESG) guidelines which the council employs in terms of advising fund managers where investments can be.

“That means they have withdrawn from companies that are not environmentally friendly or hazardous to the environment so, in other words, it’s perfectly possible for fund holders to advise fund managers where they want their investments to be placed.”

In response, Cllr Erbil said: “The council is taking the impact of the Gaza-Israel conflict very seriously and understands how strongly our residents feel about this issue, both in Enfield and beyond. International affairs are not a distant abstraction; they are felt locally in our communities and amongst our friends and neighbours.

“We acknowledge the strong feelings expressed both within our borough and beyond, regarding the responsibility of public authorities in the UK to avoid actions that may contribute to conflict or suffering elsewhere.

“We want to be open and clear about what we can and cannot do with our pension fund. We are aware that some councils have publicly said they will stop investing in certain sectors, but making these changes can be difficult in practice.

“The Enfield Pension Fund has a legal responsibility to protect the financial health of its members’ pensions. This means the fund cannot make decisions that could harm its financial performance.

“Currently, the pension fund committee is looking at ways to balance these legal and financial responsibilities with ethical concerns.

“They are considering several actions, such as: updating the investment strategy to follow best practices and legal advice; working to gather members’ views on the fund; working with the fund’s investment pooling partners, London CIV, on responsible investment; considering joining the stewardship code to further commit to responsible investing; exploring the use of split voting to have more influence in decisions.

“These steps show the fund’s commitment to high standards of environmental, social, and governance ESG principles. However, these changes won’t happen immediately, but they will ensure that ethical investments, human rights, and tackling climate change continue to be important parts of the fund’s approach.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.