Camden Council has faced criticism on social media this week after it failed to address a petitioned motion calling for the Local Government Pension Scheme to stop investing in ‘companies associated with human rights abuses and fossil fuels’.
Protesters, including community group Camden Friends of Palestine, began booing and chanting as Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali and her colleagues left the chamber when the monthly Council meeting reached its mandatory end time of 10pm.
This means that the motion, which was on the formal agenda of the Council meeting, will need to be passed to the chair of the Pensions Committee.
Camden Council has considered proposals to end such investments several times.
One such motion was first submitted to council officers in December 2024, after an online petition reached 4,000 signatures.
Camden Council will accept a petition for discussion providing it reaches at least 10 signatures from people who live, work or study in Camden.
Councillor Lorna Russell, the Green Party leader of the opposition, brought the latest motion which highlights the efforts of neighbouring Islington, also a Labour-led council.
In a report published in July, Islington Council said it was reconsidering its investment strategy after 80% of respondents backed more ethical pension fund investment proposals.
Citing Waltham Forest, another London council that has also committed to pursuing ethical investment in a financially responsible way, Russell said: “There is a precedent for councils to take action.
“I recognise that changes to Government legislation have made divestment more difficult for local government pension funds.
“Ultimately, this is about ensuring that Camden workers’ money is being invested in a way that reflects the values of the people who live and work here.”
In January, former Local Government Secretary Steve Reed MP said: “Councils should stay out of foreign conflicts and get on with the job of delivering services.”
London councils’ ethical investment efforts face significant obstacles.
In August, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) formally warned Islington Council’s Pensions Committee that the council’s survey was based on misleading information and that adopting its proposals would breach statutory guidance.
UKLFI claimed such actions would breach fiduciary duty laws, the strict legal responsibility that a pension fund must act solely in the best financial interests of its members.
Legal advice obtained by Camden Council from Nigel Giffin KC, a public law specialist, emphasised that ‘international law does not impose any enforceable legal obligation upon administering authorities to divest from or refrain from making particular investments’.
However, established case law now allows pension bodies to consider beneficiaries’ ethical and moral concerns when devising an investment strategy.
A spokesperson for Camden Council said: “While there has not been a separate vote on the specific divestment proposal, the Pension Committee has carefully considered the issues raised and has taken a number of steps to strengthen the Fund’s approach to responsible investment.
“We have a duty to act with the best long-term financial interests of members but, alongside this, we also expect environmental issues, social values, and human rights to play a central role in decision-making.
“The Fund has made significant progress in recent years by strengthening its responsible investment approach, increasing sustainable investment, and reviewing exposure to investments that present environmental, social and governance risks.”
Next month, Camden Council leader Councillor Abdi-Wali will contest the Holborn and St Pancras by-election against Green Party candidate Zack Polanski, who has made Labour’s handling of the Gaza conflict a key campaign issue.
This follows Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s announcement of sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank two weeks ago.
Featured image credit: Cambridge Friends of Palestine
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