Ahead of Earth Day 2022, we’ve provided organisations and individuals with a toolkit to help you to invest in your planet, yourself, and your people. One of the most impactful ways you can do all three is how you save and invest your money.
It can feel complicated doing anything with money, but there are steps you can take which will make a big difference. So, whether that is challenging your HR team to find a different pension partner, or switching your bank, we’ve got your back with some planet-saving steps that will help you save your money for your good and the good of the planet.
We’re not going to lie on this one, some of these steps are pro-level, but they are also worth doing.
Make my money matter
Pensions provide a huge amount of finance to companies that emit carbon, including fossil fuel companies. Globally, pension assets are worth $52 trillion, which means they have a lot of firepower to shift to low carbon investments.
By asking your pension provider to change you can have an impact because all their investments will need to shift away from fossil fuels if they commit to Net Zero. If pension companies commit to Net-Zero investments the finance available to big carbon emitters will drop making it harder to do business.
Make sure your provider is publicly committed and accountable to Net Zero by 2050 and pledged to halve emissions by 2030.
Check out your bank
Did you know that 100 fossil fuel companies account for over half of global emissions since the Industrial Revolution? The harder it is for fossil fuel companies to finance, the less exploration and exploitation they can do. Many banks support fossil fuel companies through lending, investment, and services.
Banks lend the money you put into your account to other people and companies. A part of that will go to fossil fuel companies if your bank lends to them. If you’re working hard to reduce your carbon emissions you don’t want your money to be supporting companies who are increasing them.
We’re challenging you to switch to a bank that does not finance fossil fuel companies or who have a plan to drastically cut emissions by 50% this decade. This will mean that your money is not used to finance oil and gas exploration and production.
Fossil-free investments
When you invest in fossil fuel companies, you’re providing them with money to find, extract and sell fossil fuels.
Your investment carbon footprint can get very large as you get older and your investments grow. The sooner you divest the quicker your impact will fall. You’re not only reducing the harm they can do but also aligning your investments with your values.
This step is easy to say, hard to do. To borrow a quote from Jeremy Grantham, one of the world’s most successful investors, ‘This is the first time a major industry has been put on notice that it is going out of business’. Does this sound like something you want your money invested in?
In this decisive decade, we’re looking forward to the most impactful Earth Day ever. If you or your organisation would like more support to think carbon, cut carbon, check out our Earth Day 2022 resource hub or get in touch and find out how we can help support your colleagues on sustainability.
