Dutch pension fund ABP divests shares in Caterpillar over bulldozer sales to Israel
ABP, the Netherlands’ largest pension fund, has sold all its shares in the machinery manufacturer Caterpillar. The pension fund had a stake worth €387 million in the American company, which is under fire for selling Israel the bulldozers the country is using to demolish Palestinian territories, NOS reports.
The new list of where ABP, the pension fund for civil servants and teachers, invests its participants’ money no longer includes Caterpillar. A spokesperson declined to comment to NOS, citing “competitive sensitivity.” ABP implemented a new sustainability policy last year, which includes the requirement that investments must be “socially responsible.”
The Israeli army uses Caterpillar bulldozers, which the army equipped with bulletproof glass and a steel cage to protect against bullets, for demolition work in the Palestinian territories. Israel has used the bulldozers to destroy towns, roads, and agricultural land in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations warned Caterpillar last year that if the company did not stop deliveries to Israel, it could be guilty of human rights violations.
ABP is not the only investor to have sold its shares in Caterpillar. The Norwegian central bank announced last month that the sovereign wealth fund has also sold its stakes due to the “unacceptable risk that [Caterpillar] contributes to serious violations of the rights of individuals in war or conflict situations.”
