Dear London CIV
As councillors and assembly members in London, we ask that London CIV ensures that its investments are not contributing to Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians. As an urgent step, we are calling on London CIV to ensure that:
- Pillar 3 of its responsible investment matrix excludes all companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of international law, by using the UN OHCHR’s list, the AFSC Investigate Divestment List and WhoProfits’ corporate database as a basis for exclusions.
- A timeline is set for the exclusion of all such companies across all of London CIV’s investment funds – financial complicity in human rights abuses should not be an option.
We have witnessed a groundswell of support among both scheme members and residents for aligning our councils pension fund investments with our responsibilities not to enable Israel’s grave violations of international law. Eight councils in London have now passed a motion or issued a statement to support ending investments in companies involved in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. As Israel continues its genocide in Gaza, and escalates its military assaults, land grabs and ethnic cleansing across Palestine, it is crucial that these calls are heeded, and that divestment from companies enabling grave human rights abuses is implemented.
The UK government has set a firm deadline of 31 March 2026 for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Administering Authorities to pool 100% of their assets. In this moment of transition, it is welcome that London CIV is in the process of creating a new responsible investment matrix that will allow partner pension funds to choose investments that exclude companies contributing to human rights abuses and environmental destruction. However, limiting exclusions to only a subset of companies that engage in Israel’s crimes, such as those on the UN OHCHR’s Database of Business Enterprises Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolutions 31/36 and 53/25 would be inadequate. The UN OHCHR’s report itself acknowledges that it “does not cover all business activities related to the settlements, nor does it extend to other business activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory that may raise human rights concerns.”
Companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology used in its genocide in Gaza fall outside of its scope. For example, Lockheed Martin, the primary producer of Israel’s F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, is not included. Given this, the exclusion criteria developed for London CIV’s Responsible Investment Matrix must include companies identified by research conducted by credible human rights organisations as contributing to Israel’s grave violations of international law, including the AFSC Investigate divestment list, and the WhoProfits Corporate database. London CIV has itself used these sources since 2021 to assess exposure to companies involved in violations of international law in Palestine, calling them “the most politically balanced and thorough sources of information that we can access” as recently as June 2025.
Furthermore, it is concerning that – though there has been limited transparency about the details of these plans – reports suggest that this matrix will cover London CIV’s existing public market funds, but may not apply to London CIV’s very substantial passive equity funds held through asset managers. Administering Authorities must be given the option to remove all investments from companies with sustained involvement in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. In addition, transparent communication and meaningful consultation with Administering Authorities must take place before the matrix is finalised, to enable democratic accountability.
Ensuring that London CIV’s investments are not contributing to Israel’s genocide, military occupation and apartheid must be an urgent priority, in line with Pension Funds’ responsibilities not to contribute to grave violations of international law.
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