Divesting from warfare

As America’s socially responsible bank, Amalgamated seeks to empower organizations and individuals to advance positive social change. As such, we are taking an opportunity to highlight an important issue, one we believe to be tied in with everything from social to climate justice – nuclear and military weapons of mass destruction.

We view the issue of nuclear weapons as intertwined with racial equality, climate change, war, class, and gender. The common threads connecting these seemingly disparate issues is the universality of basic human rights. The right to exist and live is threatened by the propagation of nuclear arms. The chance of a nuclear war, which most viewed as diminishing, rose to the forefront with Trump having his finger on the trigger and threatening “fire and fury like the world has never seen”. 

Even a “small” nuclear war would have catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences that could span decades. As an example, researchers report that an India–Pakistan nuclear war could lead to crops failing in dozens of countries, disrupting food supplies for more than one billion peopleⁱ. Other research reveals that a nuclear winter would dramatically alter the chemistry of the oceans, and probably decimate coral reefs and other marine ecosystemsⁱⁱ. 

Just the U.S. arsenal alone is projected to cost $494 billion over the 2019–2028 periodⁱⁱⁱ. The high cost of production, maintenance and modernization of these weapons potentially diverts public funds away from health care, education, and disaster relief, and other vital services. This of course disproportionately impacts low-income communities that have more broadly been left behind.

We often encounter clients that wish to divest from the bomb and other military weapons. They are always happy to learn that due to the values-based mission of Amalgamated, the bank adheres to the following principals:

1. In our Commercial Banking business, we do not currently engage in treasury management for any weapons manufacturers.
2. We do not currently lend any money to these kinds of companies.
3. The Bank does not invest any of its own money into weapons manufacturers. 

Additionally, Amalgamated Investment Services’ Fossil Fuel Free and other bespoke portfolios screen out all military weapons as a baseline criterion. Due to our deep understanding and expertise in the sustainable investing space, we can craft investment strategies that truly align with the values our clients wish to reflect.