The Guild holds the below belief in its Ethical and Environmental Policy:
5.2 The Guild shall not promote any companies that are involved with manufacturing armaments or munitions, such as BAE systems, Jaguar Land Rover, etc...
The Guild does not promote organisations that are involved the manufacturing of armaments or munitions. Yet, we do not hold the University of Birmingham to the same standards, nor mandate our full and part time officers to also do so. This must change. The University of Birmingham Responsible Investment Policy requests their investment manager/s to give “considerations” to our “investment exclusion criteria”, which includes “companies manufacturing whole weapon systems weapons, cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines.” However, the exclusion list also includes; “companies where revenues exceed 10% of revenues with activities connected to weapons systems, including components and services designed for weapons use products or services designed for weapons use;”
The Guild believes that the University of Birmingham must hold the same standards of ethical investments as the Guild. Therefore, the Officer Team must lobby the University:
• to end all investments associated with armaments and munitions (i.e, within committee meetings and supporting campaigns on campus);
• to be publicly transparent about their investment portfolio;
• to review its research partnerships, with a view to minimise the proportion of partner organisations that provide/profit from the manufacturing and development of armaments and munitions;
• to halt the promotion of employment opportunities associated with the manufacturing and development of armaments or munitions;
• to encourage best practice within partner organisations to minimise their relationships, investment and promotion of groups associated with the manufacturing and development of armaments and munitions (i.e. accrediting bodies, trade partners);
• to offer increased scholarships and long-term support to students seeking refuge, proportional to increased revenue.