»Acht deutsche Banken finanzieren Atomwaffenhersteller«

Almost seventy years after the first use of nuclear weapons, about 17,000 still remain today. The few countries that keep these weapons of mass destruction are planning to spend more than USD 1,000,000,000,000 over the next decade to maintain, and modernize them. More than one trillion dollars over ten years, or USD 100,000,000,000 per year. While the majority of that comes from taxpayers in the nuclear armed countries, this report shows that the private sector is investing over USD 314,349,920,000 in the private companies that produce, maintain, and modernise the nuclear arsenals in France, India, the UK and the US.

The recent use of chemical weapons in Syria reminds us that as long as weapons of mass destruction are part of national arsenals, their use cannot be ruled out. The Syrian chemical weapons case also reminds us why weapons of mass destruction must be universally outlawed and verifiably eliminated: regardless of the scenario, their use always violates basic humanitarian and ethical principles. There is no justification for any arsenal to contain any weapons of mass destruction. There is an international consensus about the catastrophic humanitarian harm that any use of nuclear weapons would cause. Even without a global prohibition on the weapons themselves, there is no country in the world that fails to acknowledge the indiscriminate nature of nuclear weapons. And all countries have committed to taking steps to create a nuclear weapons free world. From a moral perspective, financial institutions should not need a treaty banning nuclear weapons to terminate their investment in companies that produce these bombs.

A wide range of financial institutions operate in our globalised world. These include privately owned companies and state-owned institutions, banks, insurance companies, investment funds, investment banks, pension funds, export credit agencies and many others. As a large majority of companies rely on the financial markets and financial institutions to provide them with operating capital, these financial institutions play a key role in every segment of human activity. In choosing which companies and projects they will finance and invest in, these institutions play a significant role in our increasingly globalised world. These financiers can have a significant impact in creating a better world for all by making ethical investment decisions- supported by their customers and the public at large.

The active support of financial institutions will be crucial to the success of worldwide efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons. Divestment from nuclear weapon producing companies is an important way for banks, insurers, pension funds and asset managers to contribute to the delegitimization of nuclear weapons, challenge programmes to modernize existing nuclear arsenals, and prevent the further proliferation of nuclear weapons. Furthermore, it would reflect the fact that most clients do not want their money to be invested in weapons of mass destruction.

Many financial institutions developed ethical policies over the years that exclude investment in anti personnel mines or cluster munition producers. Some financial institutions have also excluded producers of nuclear weapons or put some restrictions on investing in these companies. By publishing this report, we encourage other financial institutions to evaluate their policies and the implementation thereof.
Ultimately, the prohibition of nuclear weapons needs to be done by states. A binding treaty that universally outlaws nuclear weapons and provides for their verified elimination is a necessary, achievable and pragmatic goal. Divestment from nuclear arms producers contributes to that goal by further delegitimizing nuclear weapons.

Catastrophic humanitarian harm

The world is painfully familiar with the images of destruction from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but today’s nuclear weapons have an even increased capacity to cause destruction and devastation. Even a limited exchange would have far reaching unacceptable humanitarian consequences.

In recent years the discussion has focused on the catastrophic impact of the use of nuclear weapons and states are increasingly discussing ways to prevent this humanitarian harm.

Many financial institutions do not want to wait for what seems to be a slow political process to outlaw nuclear weapons. Instead of waiting for a multilateral treaty process to begin, some financial institutions have enacted policies prohibiting or limiting their investment in nuclear weapons producers. These financial institutions have acted on their ethical responsibility to prevent gross humanitarian harm. Next to the growing emphasis on the ethical responsibilities of financiers there is a growing emphasis on the on individual responsibilities of citizens to send a clear signal to their financial institutions as well as to their governments that the continued possession or development of these weapons is unacceptable.

By publishing the facts and figures and by initiating a debate with all actors involved, IKV Pax Christi would like to contribute to this trend.

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