The City Council of Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA) has voted unanimously to divest their $1Bn pension fund from nuclear weapons producing companies.

In an historic, unanimous vote, the Cambridge City Council decided on 22 March to go on record opposing investing funds from the Cambridge Retirement System in any entities that are involved in or support the production or upgrading of nuclear weapons systems. The full text of the policy order is below.

This victory is due in no small part to the dedicated efforts of colleagues at the Future of Life Institute, MIT and Boston College.

Policy Order

POR 2016 #68

City Council opposition to investing funds from the Cambridge Retirement System in any entities that are involved in or support the production or upgrading of nuclear weapons systems.

Information

Department:	City Clerk’s Office, DS	Sponsors:	Mayor E. Denise Simmons
Category:	Policy Order

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WHEREAS:	Nations across the globe still maintain over 15,000 nuclear weapons, some of which are hundreds of times more powerful than those that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and detonation of even a small fraction of these weapons could create a decade-long nuclear winter that could destroy most of the Earth’s population; and

WHEREAS:	The United States has plans to invest roughly one trillion dollars over the coming decades to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, which many experts believe actually increases the risk of nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, and accidental nuclear war; and

WHEREAS:	In a period where federal funds are desperately needed in communities like Cambridge in order to build affordable housing, improve public transit, and develop sustainable energy sources, our tax dollars are being diverted to and wasted on nuclear weapons upgrades that would make us less safe; and

WHEREAS:	Investing in companies producing nuclear weapons implicitly supports this misdirection of our tax dollars; and

WHEREAS:	Socially responsible mutual funds and other investment vehicles are available that accurately match the current asset mix of the City of Cambridge Retirement Fund while excluding nuclear weapons producers; and

WHEREAS:	The City of Cambridge is already on record in supporting the abolition of nuclear weapons, opposing the development of new nuclear weapons, and calling on President Obama to lead the nuclear disarmament effort; now therefore be it

ORDERED:	That the City Council go on record opposing investing funds from the Cambridge Retirement System in any entities that are involved in or support the production or upgrading of nuclear weapons systems; and be it further

ORDERED:	That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Cambridge Peace Commissioner and other appropriate City staff to organize an informational forum on possibilities for Cambridge individuals and institutions to divest their pension funds from investments in nuclear weapons contractors; and be it further

ORDERED:	That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Board of the Cambridge Retirement System and other appropriate City staff to ensure divestment from all companies involved in production of nuclear weapons systems, and in entities investing in such companies, and the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council about the implementation of said divestment in a timely manner.