Put your money where your mouth is
You might not hold shares in an oil and gas company, but your money could still be supporting those companies and fueling the climate crisis.
There are two main ways this happens; through your bank and your pension. Luckily there are ways to make sure your money is exactly where you want it to be.
Change to an ethical bank
Switching to an ethical bank is another great way of ensuring your money isn’t supporting the fossil fuel industry. Websites like Bank.Green and Move Your Money can help you find the right bank for you, whether you’re looking for savings or current accounts, pensions or ISAs. Some of the more ethical banks are:
Switch to an ethical pension provider
Pensions might not seem like an obvious option for taking action on climate change but if you’re part of a pension scheme, your money could be fueling the climate crisis. If you’re working, you probably have a pension. And the money that you pay into your pension every month isn’t just sitting in a bank somewhere waiting for you to claim it in retirement. It’s being invested in companies, products and services, building the world around you. And it may not be the world you want, especially if it’s invested in oil and gas.
Your employer is the one who hold the keys to your pension. They choose a pension provider who uses your money to invest in various funds. You may have a choice to switch to a more ethical fund or no choice at all. Either way talking to your workplace about your concerns is the first step. You can ask them to contact your pension provider and let them know your concerns. Why not talk to some colleagues and see if they feel the same way. Finally you could ask your employer to switch to a more ethical pension provider. The Good Guide to Pensions is a great resource to find out more about different pension funds.
ShareAction, a charity working to make investors and banks for responsible, have way more information about all this and even have template emails and advice to talk to your employer about this and take action.
Go one step further
Once you’ve made sure you money isn’t fuelling climate change, you could go one step further and make sure it is supporting the projects working to tackle it. There are loads of investment opportunities that give you the chance to support projects that support the climate movement (and you can even pocket some of the profits yourself). You could invest in a community energy fund or use alternative investment platforms to pick from a variety of fantastic green schemes to support. Some ethical investment companies are:
Tell your friends
If you decide to take any of these steps for climate action make sure you talk about it with you friends and family.
We don’t often talk about who we bank with, but climate change is a good reason to start having these sorts of conversations, or just drop it into conversation next time you’re sharing a bill with someone and both take your bank cards out.
If we’re going to achieve the ambitious goal of net-zero by 2050 (or preferably earlier)we need everyone to be involved. For every personal action you take, you need to find ways to encourage other people to follow you. Help climate action go viral.
