Campaigners have called for the scheme for MSPs and their staff to opt for ethical investments
The Scottish Parliament’s pension scheme is investing in weapons, tobacco and fossil fuels.
Campaigners have called for investments that contribute to climate change, poor health and war to be replaced with those that will benefit the planet.
The Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme has been found to have invested in fossil fuels, tobacco firms and the arms industry. Companies that benefitted included British American Tobacco and Rolls Royce.
The multi-million pound fund is run by private investment managers and overseen by trustees, who are mainly MSPs.
John Finnie MSP, justice spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, said he has been calling for the fund to be changed for years.
"The pension fund for MSPs and their staff is complicit in the misery caused by warfare, climate change and the legacy of the tobacco industry,” he said. “Anyone with an ounce of ethics would want this fund to get out of those investments, and it's now clear that is also the view of most Scots.
"The managers of Holyrood's fund cannot wring their hands any longer. In light of major divestment announcements recently from the likes of Edinburgh University, Lloyd's of London and even New York City, there's simply no excuse."
Friends of the Earth Scotland's director Dr Richard Dixon said: “These funds cannot provide for a safe future whilst backing the business-as-usual models of oil and gas companies intent to drill every last drop, despite the climate consequences.
"The record high temperatures in the Arctic and the enormous impact of extreme weather events in these islands highlights the climate emergency we are currently facing.”
Duncan Thorp of Social Enterprise Scotland said that there is a wide range of ethical investments that are available to the fund.
“All public sector pension funds should find ways to divest from industries that harm people and planet,” he said.
“There are many opportunities for these huge pension funds to proactively invest in ethical alternatives.”
