What your money did while you slept last night

ECORESOLUTION in collaboration with SWITCH IT
Author: Amber Hayward

Banks, fossil fuels, climate change, and dirty secrets.

Politicians might not care about climate change but you do.

The sky is fiery as the sun finally begins to set. Record-breaking temperatures for the UK. The scent of cooked grass still hangs in the air. You weave your way through midges as you walk down the path to your house. Hush…something is fumbling in the hedge. A blackbird. Note to self: refill the birdbath.

The intense heat makes it hard to sleep. The reasons for it make it harder. You give up trying and start to research how to help. Politicians might not care but you do.

Google tells you the answer: reduce, reuse, recycle. Drive less, buy more organic, don’t leave the house without your keep-cup. Calculate your carbon footprint - how many earths do you need?

You’re already vegan, you don’t own a car, and you switched to a bamboo toothbrush back in 2018. But you start to doubt yourself.

The next day you google ‘refillable toothpaste’ on the train to work. You begrudgingly pay the extra 50p for oat milk rather than soya for your morning cappuccino.

Your mind is still racing at the end of the day as you deliberate whether it’s okay to sleep with the fan on.

What happens if you open your eyes?

You wake up with a start. It’s still dark. You check your phone. (1) new email.

Thank you for your approval. Expansion of Suriname Block 58 oil exploration will begin tomorrow.

What?

You scroll up to see your signature on the attached documents. Unnerved, you head for the door to get some fresh air. The water in the birdbath glints in the moonlight. It otherwise looks black like the sky. Your hand is drawn towards it and you suddenly realise it’s not water at all…it’s oil.

Your mind must be playing tricks on you.

Frightened, your eyes scan for your bike; you need to clear your head. It’s gone. You realise there is something heavy in your pocket and reach inside. A set of keys to a 4x4. Thinking things can’t get much weirder, you search the street for the matching car and hop inside.

As you drive, familiar streets start to fade away. The houses become smaller and less modern. You park up and are surprised to see the sea. As you step out of the car the wind hits you - hard. You are pushed to the ground and a wave crashes over you towards the doors of the houses. Windows smash. Belongings are swept up in the current. You close your eyes and hold your breath.

When you open your eyes again you are back in your bed. The crash of the sea fades into the whir of the fan. You can hear a blackbird chirp through your open window. You breathe a sigh of relief.

The reality of banks and fossil fuels.

But it was not just a bad dream. While you sleep, your money is acting on your behalf; and more likely than not, it’s tying you to the fossil fuel industry and undoing all your hard work.

Here’s the facts about what your money might be supporting behind your back thanks to our banks.

In 2021 alone, some of the world’s biggest banks provided £627 billion in finance to fossil fuel companies.

Yes - including the ones who have made ‘Net Zero’ commitments. The most recent Banking on Climate Chaos report found that last year ‘Net Zero’ banks alone provided over £123 billion to the 100 companies doing the most to expand oil, gas, and coal.

Like HSBC, who Market Forces dub to “literally own[s] the expansion of the coal industry” due to their sustainability policy allowing them to maintain their ownership stakes in coal companies - which are set to create new coal plants emitting 32 times the annual CO2 output of the UK over their lifetimes.

Or Barclays, who are one few European banks continuing to provide financial backing to tar sands projects. Despite being dubbed a ‘high risk low reward’ investment.

Tar/oil sands are a mixture of sand, clay and water saturated with a highly viscous form of oil referred to as bitumen. Extraction is especially ruthless due to its form, requiring intense extraction and production methods which emit up to 5 times more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oil and which result in vast amounts of contaminated water.

Alberta, Canada is an area particularly exploited for oil sands, with mounting consequences for the people who live in the region, and who rely on it for food, water, and cultural security. Pollution of the river water, which also causes harm to the fish who they are home to, is resulting in health risks and changing land use amongst the local communities, who are thus impacted by a loss of cultural and familial connections.

With the recent news of Arctic temperatures reaching 30 degrees above normal levels, you would assume Arctic oil and gas exploration would be firmly crossed off the list of ‘fab things for banks to invest in’. However, along with the usual suspects (Barclays and HSBC), Natwest and Lloyds were found to have ‘very weak’ exclusions referring to Arctic oil and gas in their investment policies. The fastest heating place on earth might deserve a slightly more solid respite from more environmental interference…surely?

It’s all looking pretty morbid and, unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there.

While an understanding of the link between the effects of fracking and racial justice issues is becoming more widespread, most banks are yet to show any solidarity or compassion. Standard Chartered is among the list of banks who have made no commitments at all with regard to the financing of fracking projects. While your back is turned, the bank whose vision is “to be the world’s most sustainable and responsible bank” could be sealing the deal on the next big fracking project.

The list goes on…As Lorne Stockman, Senior Research Analyst at Oil Change International said “Our future goes where the money flows”...and, thanks to banks, it smells a lot like climate breakdown.

But let’s take a breather and you can revisit the facts when you’re armed with some feelings of agency.

Time to stop losing sleep over global warming.

Hold up - before you start the walk to your local branch and then try to stuff all your savings into a piggy bank - there is another way!

Although, you are half right. The solution is to show you don’t stand for these investments by taking out your money and your loyalty out of the dirty offenders’ pockets. But there are some banks who share your views on fossil fuels.

And, if you switch your bank alongside others, you’re harnessing the power of collective action - multiplying your impact.