Animal campaigners slam West Midlands council pensions fund over 'cruelty' claims

The fund is accused of investing more than £35 million in livestock companies including JBS, Tyson and WH Group – three of the largest factory farming organisations in the world.

This would make it the largest local authority investor in the livestock industry – ahead of Swansea (£12.4 million) and Strathclyde (£10.3 million).

Tyson Foods slaughters 22,000 cattle, 70,000 pigs and 7.8 million chickens a day according to a study published last year by political foundation Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Friends of the Earth Europe and Bund – Friends of the Earth Germany.

JBS is the world’s largest meat producer and was linked to 100,711 acres of deforestation in the two years since March 2019, according to MightyEarth.org’s soy and cattle deforestation tracker.

The West Midlands Pension Fund has also invested in dairy company Inner Mongolia Yili (Yili Group) which has been categorised as “high risk” including in relation to animal welfare by the Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index.

The research has been carried out by non-governmental organisations Feedback and World Animal Protection. The team analysed data from Freedom of Information requests carried out by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in 2020.

Lindsay Duncan, World Animal Protection farming campaigns manager, said: “The reason that intensive farming is known as ‘factory farming’, is because that is precisely how it operates.

“Huge numbers of individual animals – each capable of feeling pain and suffering – are processed through systems designed to maximise efficiency and profit, operating at the expense of their welfare needs, denying their natural behaviours and trapping them in terrible conditions from birth until death.

“Several species of farm animal continue to be subjected to painful mutilations.

“For example, pigs can suffer from multiple painful mutilations including – tail docking (cutting or cauterising the pig’s tail); teeth clipping (cutting or grinding down of teeth); castration (removing pig’s testicles); permanent identification (ear notching, ear tagging or tattooing).

“These mutilations are carried out often without anaesthetic and within the first days of a pig’s life and are often ‘solutions’ to problems created by intensive farming.

“Pigs have their tails cut off to prevent tail biting, but tail biting amongst pigs mostly occurs out of frustration without the space and environment they need to carry out natural behaviours.

“Factory farming uses animal breeds that are designed to grow as quickly and to produce as much as possible and as a result suffer unthinkable cruelty.

“Meat chickens reach slaughter weight in around six weeks – a weight it would naturally take around three months to reach. This rapid growth can cause severe health problems, such as painful lameness and strain to the animal’s heart and lungs.

“As a result of these health problems and with little to do, factory farmed chickens spend much of their life sitting down. Many endure constant pain as a result of lameness.”

Describing factory farming practices as “atrociously cruel”, Martin Bowman of Feedback said: “These industrial livestock companies are hard-wired for profit and growth which means squeezing so much ‘efficiency’ out of animals as possible via what we would commonly know as factory farming.”

Another factor behind the calls for divestment is the impact of factory farming on the environment.

The campaigners have cited research from 2018 showing the five biggest meat and dairy companies worldwide collectively emit more greenhouse gases than oil and gas giant ExxonMobil.

West Midlands Pension Fund response

The West Midlands Pension Fund has 343,000 members and assets worth £11.5 billion, involves all seven West Midlands councils and is administered by Wolverhampton Council.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Pension Fund said the figures quoted have been queried as they “do not appear to align with our position”.

But it said it intended to bring about change at companies through “risk monitoring and engagement” rather than divestment.

The spokesperson said: “Climate change is an existential threat and the defining issue of modern time. It is harming livelihoods and societies, threatening future food security and water availability, and having a detrimental impact upon local and global economies alike.

“The West Midlands Pension Fund (“WMPF/ the Fund”) is fully committed to aligning with the goals of the Paris Agreement and net zero ambition by 2050 or sooner.

“As a pension fund and asset owner we seek to understand the risks associated with climate change; ensure fund resilience as we decarbonise; and champion effective collaboration and increased transparency in our approach, as we continue to forge our pathway to net zero and contribute to building sustainable futures for all.

“Our 2021 Climate Change Framework and Strategy outlines our approach, how we will measure our progress and continue to adapt to the changing policy and regulatory environment.

“As set out in the Fund’s annual Stewardship Report, WMPF has chosen four engagement themes for the period to 2023, two of which include Climate Change and Sustainable Food Systems. WMPF believes that a sustainable food system is one that delivers food and nutrition security for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases for future generations are not compromised.

“There has been a shift among consumers who are increasingly aware of, and concerned by, the climate impacts of the food they eat and how sustainably it is produced.

“WMPF recognises the crucial role that tropical forests play in tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity and ensuring ecosystem services, which again has an impact on economic development and the stability and well-functioning of capital markets."

The spokesperson continued: “In 2020, on behalf of WMPF, the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) gave greater focus to the importance of preventing deforestation in order to stem climate change.

“Not only is climate change having an impact on the planet, but so are the actions of modern society. WMPF is very conscious of the damage that single use plastics has on the environment and is keen to engage alongside partners in highlighting the risks that single use plastics pose to longer term financial returns.

“Through our pool company LGPS Central Ltd we leverage investor collaboration opportunities for instance through the Principles for Responsible Investment Plastics Working Group and Investor Forum’s Marine Plastic Pollution project.

“Voting is as far as possible engagement-led, and LGPS Central will consider co-filing or supporting shareholder resolutions that relate to better risk management (reduce plastic use, reduce plastic waste, increase recycling, invest in relevant research and development).

“Investee companies with robust governance structures should be better positioned to handle the effects of shocks and stresses of future events.

“Thus, as outlined in the Fund’s Responsible Investment Framework the Fund prefers to adopt a policy of risk monitoring and engagement in order to positively influence company behaviour and enhance shareholder value, influence that would be lost through a divestment approach.”