Phased selective divestment: 1985 GA Policy

"Phased, selective divestment" denotes a particular process for addressing divestment issues.

It was adopted by the 197th General Assembly (1985) as a way to implement the foundational divestment policy adopted by the 196th General Assembly (1984) in relation to the church's holdings in corporations doing business in South Africa.

The phased selective divestment process includes a full range of efforts including education, interpretation and public witness, as a way both to create a better informed constituency regarding the nature of Christian witness through the use of financial resources and to engage actively Presbyterians in advocacy around the issues that promoted the divestment process.

The policy includes a step-by-step process by which MRTI would engage corporations, with a view to changing both corporate and government policies and practices and, failing that, to support the divestment from these corporations as an act of Christian witness.

The basic steps, once the process is initiated by the General Assembly, are:

1. MRTI will develop criteria for assessing the impact of corporate presence with regard to the issue, or in the region, including a classification system for grouping corporations by the nature of their investment.
2. The list will be reviewed with ecumenical partners to identify the most appropriate companies for immediate engagement, including those with whom MRTI or ecumenical partners may already have been engaged.
3. As a result of that effort, a focused list of corporations will be identified for intensive action. Factors involved in this evaluation will include such things as
1. history of involvement with the issue or in the region
2. magnitude and strategic importance of involvement
3. growth in corporate assets, etc. especially as a result of infusion of new capital
4. amount and nature of loans, credits or services by financial institutions
5. corporate actions that contribute to peace and justice in the region, or with regard to the issue
4. MRTI will correspond with the leadership of those corporations, expressing the concerns of the General Assembly and identifying desirable changes in the company's role.
5. MRTI will notify appropriate governing bodies, soliciting their involvement in the process of engagement with corporate leaders.
6. As appropriate in the course of the dialog with corporations, MRTI will request the General Assembly Council to authorize the filing or co-filing of shareholder resolutions with subject corporations.
7. MRTI, in cooperation with ecumenical partners, will monitor regularly the progress made with subject companies.
8. When MRTI is persuaded that a particular corporation, after extensive engagement, remains uncooperative or has refused to be in dialog with the churches, MRTI may prepare a recommendation to the General Assembly Council, asking the General Assembly to place the corporation on the divestment/proscription list and urging the Foundation and the Board of Pensions to comply with the action of the General Assembly in their management of assets.

“The Divestment Strategy: Principles and Criteria,” adopted by the 1984 General Assembly sets forth certain principles:

The issue on which divestment is proposed should be one reflecting central aspects of the faith.

The issue on which divestment is proposed should be one that the church has addressed by a variety of educational and action efforts, such as:

• correspondence with companies
• discussion with company managers and directors
• statements, questions, and shareholder resolutions at stockholder meetings, and
• legal action against companies

The analysis supporting the proposed action:

• should be clearly grounded in the church’s confession and unambiguously present in the social policy of the General Assembly;
• should clearly define the behavior and stance of the corporate entities whose policies and practices are at issue; and
• should state the ends sought through divestment.

The decision should be taken after conversation with the ecumenical community, whenever possible.

Efforts should be made to examine the probable effects and consequences of the action with affected communities, particularly Presbyterian.

The proposed action should be sufficiently precise that the effect of its application can be evaluated.

Any proposed divestment action should include provision for:

• informing appropriate church constituencies
• giving appropriate public visibility to the action
• engaging the governing bodies and members in advocacy for the ends that prompt the divestment
• giving pastoral care to those directly affected

(1984 Minutes, p.194)