As part of our theme A Burning Issue, we’ve been calling on Birmingham City Council not to use a crisis in their public funds as an excuse to avoid climate action. The petition led by BrumCJC is still open for signing: Birmingham City Council: honour your commitment to net zero by 2030.
The other side of the finance coin is private investment – ordinary people’s money invested through our pensions. This could be funding sustainable initiatives, but all too often our money is currently invested in fossil fuels.
Make Money Matter (MMM) have created a satirical video starring Olivia Colman as ‘Oblivia Coalmine’:
MMM state that £88 billion of UK pensions is invested in oil and gas companies. They are calling on pension funds to rule out financing for any new oil and gas, including by:
- Putting fossil fuel companies on notice to rule out expansion
- Voting against fossil fuel expanders
- Divesting publicly if they fail on steps 1 and 2
Join the campaign by signing MMM’s petition to stop UK pension schemes financing fossil fuel expansion:
This type of action is known as ‘shareholder engagement’ – using our collective power as people with money invested in big pension schemes to try and change the behaviour of companies we’re invested in. Sometimes that’s not enough, and the MMM petition calls for funds to be divested, i.e. not invested in these companies anymore if they’re not willing to change. If you’re interested in moving your whole pension to a more sustainable provider, Ethical Consumer have a guide (as they state, you should always seek financial advice before making this type of decision).
Both economic issues and the climate crisis can seem overwhelming sometimes – if you’d like to explore any of this, pop into Peace Hub for a friendly chat.
Peace Hub is highlighting this campaign because we support its broad aims and it fits with our current theme. It should not be inferred that Make Money Matter endorses Peace Hub in any way.