Too risky for Business: Stop investments in uranium weapons |
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International Actions against Investments in Producers of Uranium Weapons
Uranium weapons.
Despite the fact that weapons containing depleted uranium are not widely
known, they have been produced and used on a massive scale. The health consequences of
these weapons, which also continue after the end of the armed conflict in which they are
used, are becoming clearer. Depleted uranium is a radioactive and chemically toxic waste
product from the nuclear industry. It is used in anti-tank weapons and in the armour of
tanks. The use of these weapons creates clouds of tiny metal particles that contaminate the
battlefield and surrounding environment for millions of years. Scientific research has shown
that depleted uranium causes cancer, birth defects, and other serious health problems. The
effects have been recorded in both soldiers and civilians.
[ Read the ICBUW briefing on DU weapons (.pdf) ]
Too Risky For Business
The companies who produce these weapons are readily supplied with capital by large
financial groups- capital that makes the production of these weapons possible. The research
report ‘Too Risky for Business. Financial Institutions and Uranium Weapons.’ shows that 47
financial institutions are currently investing in producers of uranium weapons. Three US stock
market listed companies: Alliant Techsystems, GenCorp and General Dynamics, are supported
by financiers from Canada, the US, Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany, Taiwan, Singapore
and Italy.
[ Read the summary of the report (.pdf) ]
[ Read the complete report (.pdf) ]
Online action
Oppose the finaincing of uranium weapons with your bank, or other banks around the world.
Use our website to send a mail directly to the banks involved!
[ Online letter ]
Get involved!
If you want to do more to oppose the financing of uranium weapons, we have put together some resources to help you get involved.
Actions at banks' branches offer a great opportunity to reach the man and woman in the street. Everyone is a client of a bank, and the investments are made with their money. Most people don't like the idea that their money is being used this way.
Unlike arms producers, banks have a lot of local branches, so you can organise an action anywhere. Financial Institutions also attach a lot of importance to their image amongs the public.
You can join this action in several ways:
Write letters to the banks
[ Download a standard letter (.doc) | List of bank addresses (.pdf) ]
Invite people to send the letter using our website.
[ Online letter | "Too Risky" logo: website version, greyscale, black and white, colour ]
You can send the dossier to the banks in your country, and release the information to the press through a press conference.
[ Download the dossier (.pdf) | Standard press release (.doc) | Advice on dealing with the media (.pdf) ]
You can organise actions at branches of banks, or at their headquarters. This could be a visual action with banners or street theatre, aimed at press coverage. In busy offices, there is also the opportunity to hand out leaflets to employees and clients.
[ Standard flyer (.doc) | Standard press release (.doc) | Advice on dealing with the media (.pdf) ]
Note: for many of these actions, you will need to adapt the standard material to the bank you are targetting. You can find an overview of the banks and their support for uranium weapons in the summary of the report (.pdf)
International Actions
The report was launched on 6th November, with actions and activities in many countries. We will be posting information about these events here. If you send us information about what you've done, we'll add it to the list!
Contact us with details of the action you've taken, for more information about the report, or support in setting up an action or press conference: info@bandepleteduranium.org
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