How ethical is your pension?19 February 2013
Land grabs are on the rise. Western companies are buying up huge areas of farmland in the world's poorest countries. In Africa an area the size of Kenya has already been snatched up by foreign companies.
These dodgy deals often ignore local land rights. People are left with no way to grow food or support themselves.
Land grabbing and you
Worryingly your pension could be bankrolling these land grabs. Pension companies are said to be the largest institutional investors in farmland worldwide - investing £10 billion already.
Help find out more
Please write to your pension company - if you have one - and ask if they're investing in land grabs. As a customer you have the right to ask for information. What you find out will be invaluable for the campaign.
We've listed some of the biggest pension providers below. Unfortunately we couldn't cover them all.
If the name of your pension provider is below please click through to send them an email.
If you can't see the name of your pension provider please find the email for customer services on their website and copy and paste the text below.
Please forward any response you receive from your pension fund to clare.coatman@foe.co.uk. Please also let us know if your pension fund doesn't respond to you within two weeks.
Some popular pension companies
- AVIVA
- BAE Systems 2000 Pension Plan
- Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund
- BP plc Pension Fund
- BT plc Pension Fund
- Electricity Supply Pension Scheme
- Friends Life
- Legal and General PLC
- National Grid Pension Scheme DB
- Prudential
- Railways Pension Scheme
- Royal Bank of Scotland Group Pension Fund
- Royal Mail Pension Trustees Ltd
- Santander ISA
- Scottish Equitable
- Scottish Life
- Standard Life
- Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd
- Virgin Money
Email to copy and paste
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have followed with interest the developing debate about the huge rise in large-scale land acquisitions in the Global South. According to reports these land grabs are generating conflicts and controversies around the world.
More and more reports seem to indicate that investing in agricultural land under such conditions is unsustainable and risky.
Despite this, pension funds are reported to be the largest institutional investors in farmland worldwide.
As a pension holder I am worried that my pension could be invested in a risky land investment bubble. This could lead to substantial loses in the value of my pension.
Could you please let me know the total amount of the company's exposure to investments in agricultural land? I would also like to know what safeguards you have in place to limit the risk of these types of investment.
Yours sincerely,
YOUR NAME
© Friends of the Earth International
