The movement for ethical investment met with success as the Church of England decided in February to pull its #2.2 million shares from the construction equipment company Caterpillar.
The General Synod voted on 6 February to “divest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation [of Palestinian territories], such as Caterpillar Inc, until they change their policies”. The Church was recently criticised by groups such as War on Want for its previous inaction in the matter. The decision has not been finalised, however, as Church Commissioners must take steps to enforce the Synod's vote.
Its not academic
In other ethical investment news, students at Oxford University are continuing their campaign to force the institution's #2 billion in investments out of the arms trade.
On 14 February the University Council was set to discuss a paper by the Socially Responsible Investment Campaign and the Oxford University Students Union, which called for the school to remove its money from the arms trade and actively pursue ethical investments. The council removed the paper from the agenda at the last minute, and instead were greeted by over 80 student protesters demanding consideration of the proposal.