Churches in America and MRI
Churches in America have blazed a trail on Morally Responsible Investment and offer us, here in the UK, hope and inspiration that our churches could do the same.
2012 Friends Fiduciary Corporation (manages the investment for over 250 Quaker groups) divested form companies complicit in Israeli human rights violations.
2014 Presbyterian Church (1.5 million member) votes to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard and put in place an investment screen to stop supporting companies who profit from the occupation of Palestine.
2015 United Church of Christ (1 million members) Voted to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s control of the West Bank
2016 United Methodist Church (12.8 Members $20Billion fund) blocks 5 Israeli banks from its investment portfolio.
2017 Mennonite Church (75,000 members $3Billion fund) voted to sell its holdings in companies they say are profiting from business in territories occupied by Israel.
2017 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (4 million members) voted to introduce an investment screen to stop supporting companies profiting from Israeli rights abuses.
2018 Presbyterian Church voted on four very strong resolutions, including;
- Opposition to U.S. federal and state laws designed to suppress Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) in support of Palestinian human rights;
- A call to RE/MAX, LLC to do “everything within its legal and moral power” to stop facilitating the sale and rental of properties in Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.
July 2018 the Episcopal Church (3 million members) voted to divest from complicit companies and put in place a human rights screen to prevent investments in companies who profit from the occupation and dispossession of Palestinian land and people.
Oct 2019 the Episcopal Church implements the investment screen to prevent investment in companies profiting from occupation. Click here for more information