Mothers, grandparents and other concerned residents demonstrated peacefully in Sale to call on the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) to stop investing in companies profiting from war and fossil fuels and instead invest in climate solutions to benefit people and the planet.
Protesters sat in a large circle on School Road in Sale, holding pictures of the impacts of climate change and war, alongside images of a greener future. The action aimed to raise awareness of how the pension contributions of the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities are being invested by GMPF, which is managed by Tameside Council. Protesters were joined by representatives from the two campaigns ‘Fossil Free GM’ and ‘GMPF Divest Now!’, who urged residents and pension fund members to contact their councillors to demand GMPF invest their money responsibly.
Jemma Russell, a local government employee and member of the pension fund, said: “As a mother of two young children, it’s devastating to hear about children across the world killed or suffering as the result of war and climate disasters. But to find out my pension is funding this is sickening. I don’t want my money invested in these companies and it feels completely at odds with the ethos of our councils that are working to develop healthy and safe communities.”
The Mothers* Rebellion circle, organised by Extinction Rebellion Trafford, is part of the sixth Global Mothers* Rebellion for Climate Justice, which will see protest circles taking place in towns and cities in over 30 countries across the world. This wave of demonstrations aims to highlight the links between war, militarism and climate justice[1], coinciding with the first Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice, calling for the urgent need to divest from war and invest in climate justice.
The organisers of the action argue that instead of GMPF funding large multinational companies profiting from climate change and war, such as Shell, BP and BAE systems, the money should be invested in much needed local climate solutions that would benefit communities by saving people money, improving health outcomes and creating green jobs.
Maggie Walker, a Fossil Free GM campaigner and GMPF pension recipient said: “Our Greater Manchester local government pension scheme has been shown to have the highest level of investments in oil and gas companies of all the English local government pension schemes. This is unethical and financially risky as those companies continue to carry out fossil fuel exploration. Scientists say that to prevent disastrous global warming there must be no additional fossil fuel extraction and we need a Just Transition for the workers in those industries. That’s where the GMPF should be investing our money.”
According to the campaign group Fossil Free GM, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund is one of the largest local government pension scheme investors in fossil fuel companies – investing £1.5 billion, amounting to 5.1% of the total fund value. This is in contrast to many other council pension schemes who are reducing these investments, with one fifth of local government pension funds now investing less than 1% of their funds in fossil fuels.
Research from GMPF Divest Now! shows that the fund invests at least £800 million in companies associated with Israel’s war in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine. This includes over £190 million in arms and military spyware manufacturers, such as Babcock International and BAE systems, which supply bombs, missiles and components for jets that are used by the Israeli military in repeated attacks on Palestinian civilians.
Anne Webster from the GMPF Divest Now! campaign said
“As a member of GMPF I am horrified that my money is going to fund the companies that make the arms being used in the genocide in Gaza, and the banks that fund them, as well as companies identified by the United Nations as complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. GMPF pride themselves on their responsible and ethical investment policies – we are calling on GMPF to show these policies mean something and to divest now!”
