Pension fund ABP divests – a bit

ABP’s wheels generally grind slowly: when it finally agreed to divest from fossil fuel-producing companies it still took a couple of years to complete the process. Moreover, updates on its investments are only publicised with a 3-month time lag, (There are exceptions: the recent decision to dump Tesla was made, and announced to the press, relatively quickly.)

Pressure

For years now, activists have been cmpaigning for ABP to dump its investments in companies which are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. As of the end of June 2024, ABP continued to invest in companies like Caterpillar (€ 242 mln), Booking Holdings (parent company of Booking.com) (€ 235 mln), Cisco Systems (€ 361 mln) and Motorola (€ 341 mln). Moreover, the list of companies with which ABP had “engaged” on issues of governance, environment or human rights in 2023 did not include any of these companies at all.

So all eyes were on the updated list of investments as at the end of 2024, which has just been published, along with the list of companies engaged with in 2024 which was also made public at the same time.

Photo of the late arch bishop Tutu of South Africa, who already told ABP not to invest in Israeli apartheid

ABP cuts ties with Booking, Teva and Coke USA

At last there is some good news. Booking Holdings and Motorola are conspicuous by their absence from ABP’s investments, as are Teva Pharmaceuticals, Coca-Cola USA and a number of relatively small Israeli companies in which ABP previously held shares. Reasons for the divestments are not given, but from the list of companies engaged with in 2024 we can see that ABP apparently engaged with Booking Holdings on issues of governance and “company ethics”, though not human rights. In the case of Teva and Coca-Cola USA, there was engagement on the question of human rights. This does not necessarily mean that ABP addressed human rights issues concerned with Israel and Palestine, but we can hope.

Doubled investments in Caterpillar

As at the end of 2024 ABP was still investing in Caterpillar. However, at last some engagement has taken place over human rights. The BDS movement expects ABP to drop Caterpillar completely if it does not cease exporting equipment to Israel, particularly the D9-bulldozer used in demolishing Palestinian houses. Instead, ABP has almost doubled its investment in Caterpillar to € 463 mln.

ABP has likewise increased its investment in Siemens and IBM, while engaging with both these companies on human rights issues. It has also increased its holdings in Cisco to € 553 mln, and has not even attempted to engage with them on any issues of concern whatsoever.

Slightly less bad

So, while ABP should be given credit for the steps it has taken, it needs to intensify its actions and divest entirely from companies which continue to profit from Israel’s illegal occupation. Otherwise it will be complicit in war crimes, and risk both reputational damage and legal action.