Make My Money Matter has launched a new campaign urging the UK’s “Big Five” high street banks—HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest, and Lloyds—to stop funding the development of the oil, gas, and coal industries in accordance with the International Energy Agency’s guidance.
The new initiative builds on rising public demand and increasing international pressure on banks to address the climate crisis according to founder Richard Curtis.
Make My Money Matter conducted a poll of UK bank account holders, including clients of the Big Five high street banks, to support the launch of its new campaign. According to research, 86 per cent of consumers, do not believe their bank is currently doing enough to protect our planet, even though nearly three-quarters of customers or 70 per cent agree that banks have a responsibility to address climate change.
Nearly 77 per cent of customers polled at HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest, and Lloyds indicated they were unaware that their banks financed the fossil fuel industry, which is bringing about increasingly dire climate scenarios.
Make My Money Matter founder Richard Curtis says: “The evidence is clear; our banks are in a dangerous relationship with the fossil fuel industry. In the six years since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, the UK’s five biggest high street banks have provided billions to the companies at the forefront of fossil fuel expansion. This isn’t just bad for the planet and the people who live on it – it goes against the wishes of millions of UK citizens who want their banks to tackle the climate crisis, not fuelling the fire.
“But it doesn’t have to be this way. Our banks can be the beating heart of a cleaner, greener, and fairer economy. By stopping financing fossil fuel expansion and directing more money towards climate solutions, not climate catastrophes, HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds can send a clear signal to the fossil fuel industry that the future is green, all while ensuring UK citizens truly have banks they can be proud of. Now is the moment for urgent, ambitious, extraordinary action from our banks – their customers are expecting it, and the world urgently needs it.”