Open Letter Calling on UK Banks to Divest From Nuclear Weapons – DBOTB UK
Every year, the UK government spends billions of pounds on nuclear weapons, contracting private companies, like BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, to maintain and modernise its nuclear arsenal. Many UK financial institutions – including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Standard Chartered – still invest heavily in or provide substantial loans to companies involved in nuclear weapons.
For the health of people and the planet, the elimination of nuclear weapons and prevention of their use is an urgent priority.
Take action! Sign the open letter below and join our call upon these banks to divest from the global insecurity and indiscriminate human harm. #DontBankOnTheBomb
Dear Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Standard Chartered,
We, the undersigned, write to you as concerned citizens and customers to urge you to immediately divest from financially supporting the nuclear weapons industry.
The continued financing of nuclear weapons is neither ethically, morally or financially defensible. Whilst the ongoing threat of nuclear weapons undermines fundamental human rights and violates international law, the choice of your institutions to invest in these indiscriminate weapons allows for the continuation of the climate chaos, environmental destruction and generational health impacts they cause. It is time to act upon the commitments of your corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, and stop endangering current and coming generations. It is also time to align yourselves with international law and growing global norms.
Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) binds nuclear-armed states to pursue disarmament in good faith- yet the United Kingdom continues to modernise its nuclear arsenal, in clear violation of its legal commitments. In addition, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force in January 2021, making the financing and development of nuclear weapons illegal under international law.
Despite these legal obligations and the growing risks associated with nuclear weapon financing, your institutions collectively provided $30.5 billion between 2022 and 2024 to the nuclear weapons producers who undermine the United Kingdom’s legal obligations and violate international law. This financial support for companies instigating global instability can no longer be ignored.
For the health of people and the planet, the elimination of nuclear weapons and prevention of their use is an urgent priority. Even a single nuclear explosion would destroy a city, kill millions and cause unimaginable short and long-term harm to health, to which our health systems could never adequately respond. We also know that the use of less than 1% of the world’s nuclear weapons is predicted to cause global climate disruption and widespread famine.
As such we call on you to commit to comprehensively exclude all controversial weapons, including nuclear weapons, ensuring that no part of your financial services – including direct investments, passive and externally managed funds, joint ventures, loans and underwriting – support the nuclear weapons industry.
In a world ablaze with war and conflict, you have the power and obligation to secure a more stable and responsible future. Divesting is a financial necessity in a world where nuclear weapons are increasingly contributing to global instability and threatening human security.
We urge you to take a stand and #MoveTheMoney.