Peace, people, planet – and then profit

Twenty-two years ago, in March 1999, the International Treaty to ban Landmines, which had been in the making since the 1980 ‘Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects’, came into effect.

The Ottawa Treaty aims to eliminate anti-personnel land mines around the world. Astonishingly, even though 164 countries have signed the Treaty, China, the Russian Federation and the USA have not.

Land mines are used in war and are considered particularly damaging as they are indiscriminate, and remain present and active after conflict, unless dangerous, painstaking and expensive clearance work is done. It is estimated that up to 20,000 people are killed in times of peace every year while countless more – mostly civilians, mostly children – are maimed

Our Ethical Policy makes it clear that we will not lend to any organisation involved with the production or sale of weapons. Further, we seek to ensure that we avoid any business dealings with such companies (and others). Co-operatives like us, and other community owned and focused businesses, have values at the heart of them. We believe that people and planet matter, and so we put people and planet before profit, wanting to do well for our members, our business, ourselves, by doing good.

We believe that a better world is possible and so we are working, constantly, to build the world we want to see. If you are too, and you’re looking to grow, let’s talk.