CTBI is supporting and helping to promote an appeal to the major UK banks involved in fossil fuel financing, together with Just Money Movement, Make My Money Matter, Christian Climate Action and Bank Better. This builds on the ongoing work of CTBI’s Environmental Issues Network and a webinar for churches on Banking and the Climate Crisis, which we helped organise earlier in the year. It is supported by the World Council of Churches as part of their global engagement with issues of climate justice.
You can access the information about the statement and how to sign up on behalf of your organisation on the Just Money Movement website.
You can also access the previous webinar and associated resources.
Join the movement for ethical banking
70 Christian organisations have published an open letter calling on the ‘Big 5’ UK high street banks to reconsider their support for the fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis (see full details below).
This is a positive step forward, however we need your support to continue to build a movement for change – so that more churches and Christian organisations act justly with their own finances and join in with campaigning for a fairer, greener banking sector.
Rowan Williams and 70 Christian organisations call on major UK high-street banks to stop financing new fossil fuels
The landmark public statement has been signed by organisations representing over 400,000 members.
- In the largest action yet on our highstreet banks, a statement of concern has been issued by 70 churches, charities and institutions addressed to the CEOs of Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds over their continued financing of new fossil fuels.
- Key Christian figures have endorsed the statement, such as former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
- The churches are joining the many charities, churches, universities and medical institutions who have already taken action on this issue.
- The banks have provided $556 billion to fossil fuels since the Paris Climate Agreement, and financed companies expanding fossil fuels with almost $25 billion in 2023 alone.* New fossil fuels are driving the climate emergency and are incompatible with the need to limit global heating**.
- Signatories represent a diverse range of denominations, including The Methodist Church in Britain, the Scottish Episcopal Church College of Bishops, and 8 Catholic religious orders, representing over 400,000 members.
70 Christian groups have published a statement calling on the big 5 UK high-street banks to end their financing of new fossil fuels which are fueling dangerous levels of global heating. Read the full statement and list of signatories.
The signatories represent over 400,000 members. They include national churches, like the Methodist Church in Britain, the Scottish Episcopal Church College of Bishops and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, 8 Catholic religious orders, regional church bodies including 10 Quaker Area Meetings, and local churches. Major Christian charities have also signed on, including SCIAF and Operation Noah. The statement was co-written by a coalition of climate and Christian organisations, the JustMoney Movement, Make My Money Matter, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), Laudato Si’ Movement, Christian Climate Action (CCA) and Bank Better, with support from the World Council of Churches (WCC).
Key Christian figures have endorsed the statement, such as former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who said:
“Banks are very understandably seen as institutions we need to be able to trust. What we are asking is that the main High Street banks should show themselves to be fully worthy of that trust by playing their part in creating a future we can trust, a future in which our lethal dependence on fossil fuels will at last be put behind us.”
This statement continues the long-running tradition of Christian institutions standing-up for justice. The statement raises concerns over the $556 billion Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds have provided to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris Climate Agreement. In 2023, the hottest year on record, the five banks collectively financed companies expanding fossil fuels with almost $25 billion. Latest figures show that 2024 is likely to beat 2023 as the hottest year on record and the UN has previously called investment in the fossil fuel industry “moral and economic madness”.*** The expansion of oil and gas is incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, according to the UN, the International Energy Agency and thousands of leading climate scientists.
There is a strong precedent of Christian organisations taking action on their banks’ fossil fuel financing. The move follows in the footsteps of Christian Aid, Sheffield Cathedral, and Greenbelt who all announced plans to leave Barclays due to their fossil fuel financing last year. This is the largest group of institutions to call out the UK banks on their fossil fuel financing, building on growing pressure from across society including charities such as Oxfam, more than 30 of the UK’s universities including Cambridge, Oxford and UCL, and health institutions like the British Medical Journal. Other high-profile British organisations have faced prolonged public pressure to remove ties to banks over climate concerns, including Wimbledon and the National Trust.
The statement highlights the fact that the climate crisis will not just affect future generations, but is affecting the most vulnerable today, particularly in the global South. The organisations stress that this is an effort to align their financial choices with their own values. The signatories have said that until the banks halt their financing of new fossil fuels they will continue to speak out and consider alternative banking options wherever possible. The statement remains open for signatories. You can read the full statement and see a full list of signatories.
Nicola Brady, General Secretary, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
“In their work for climate justice the churches and Christian organisations in our membership have been examining their own actions and choices, leading many to make changes in areas such as investment and banking. They are conscious of the responsibility to build on this work by sharing the story of the journey they have been on to raise awareness and call for change. We are grateful for the opportunity to be partners in this important initiative and hope that it will encourage others, particularly the banks, to become partners in the work of climate justice.”
Tony Burdon, CEO, Make My Money Matter
“This largest action by Christian organisations on our polluting banks – Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds – should be another wake-up call for them to stop financing the companies behind new oil and gas and profiting from the destruction of our planet. From the recent catastrophe in Valencia to wildfires in Canada, the climate crisis is happening around us and it is driven by fossil fuels, paid for by these banks.”
Comment from signatory – The Revd Dr Jonathan Hustler, Secretary of the Conference, The Methodist Church in Britain
“The Conference of the Methodist Church in Britain has taken the decision not to invest in oil and gas companies as we assess that none of the major, publicly-listed, fossil fuel companies are addressing the need for transition with the urgency that our situation requires. We urge major banks to engage with these companies and decline to fund oil and gas expansion.”
Comment from signatory – Sister Susan Francois, CSJP (Assistant Congregation Leader, Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace)
“We believe that we have a fiduciary responsibility to earth and present and future generations. We signed this statement because we agree with Pope Francis that we must transform the economy from one that kills into an economy of life.”
Notes to editors
*Banking On Climate Chaos 2024
**https://www.iea.org/news/the-path-to-limiting-global-warming-to-1-5-c-has-narrowed-but-clean-energy-growth-is-keeping-it-open
***https://press.un.org/en/2022/sgsm21228.doc.htm#:~:text=Investing%20in%20new%20fossil%20fuels,focused%20on%20mitigation%20%E2%80%94%20cutting%20emissions.
About Make My Money Matter
Make My Money Matter is a people-powered campaign founded by acclaimed filmmaker and activist Richard Curtis. The campaign group aims to give savers more voice and choice over their money so that their pension, investments, and bank align with their values and work to build a better world.
Make My Money Matter calls on the Big Five UK high street banks to take the following steps:
- Immediately stop providing money to new clients who are involved in expanding fossil fuel operations
- End the flow of new money to existing fossil fuel clients who – by end of 2025 – haven’t ended expansion of fossil fuel operations and haven’t published credible plans aligned to a 1.5 degree global warming limit
- Set out a clear timeline for cutting tie with existing clients that continue to expand fossil fuel operations
Make My Money Matter calls on UK Pension Schemes to
- Commit to robust net zero targets and report regularly on their progress
- Tackle deforestation in their investments
- Set red lines on fossil fuel expansion amongst investee and financed companies
- Ramp up investments into climate solutions
Find out more at www.makemymoneymatter.co.uk
About The JustMoney Movement
JustMoney Movement is an ecumenical Christian charity campaigning and educating around a more just use of money, equipping individuals and churches to make fairer, greener choices with our own money, and calling for actions by banks, businesses, and in the tax system, that will enable all people and the planet to flourish. www.justmoney.org.uk
About Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) exists as an expression of our member churches’ commitment to ecumenism and inter-church cooperation across Britain and Ireland. We provide spaces for member churches to engage in dialogue and relationship-building and support collaborative action on issues of shared concern through a range of approaches, including research, publication of resources, theological reflection, communications and advocacy. www.ctbi.org.uk
About Christian Climate Action
Christian Climate Action is a multi-denominational network of Christians across the UK, that support each other in tackling the climate crisis. They carry out prayerful protests and vigils to bring about the changes we need. Ethical finance is one of CCAs core campaigns. Website: christianclimateaction.org
About Laudato Si’ Movement
Laudato Si’ Movement is a global movement of grassroots leaders and member organisations, mobilising and inspiring the Catholic community to achieve climate and ecological justice. laudatosimovement.org
About the World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of 352 Churches from more than 120 countries, representing over 580 million Christians worldwide. It includes most of the world’s Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches. Read its Save Children’s Lives resource on responsible banking: https://oikoumene.org/resources/publications/save-childrens-lives
About Bank Better
Bank Better is a distributed network of bank campaigners, coordinated by Tipping Point UK, which aims to build ‘the biggest bank boycott in history’. Bank Better pushes for organisations and institutions to refuse sponsorship and move their finances away from the banks which are responsible for funding fossil fuels, arms companies, and the border industry. https://bankbetter.uk/
Discover all the latest developments from the Environmental Issues Network member churches and faith organisations.
The Environmental Issues Network welcomes the Green Investment Declaration as a valuable resource for churches in their engagement with climate justice.
Discover the latest initiatives from the Environmental Issues Network member churches and faith organisations.
Find out about the work of the Environmental Issues Network member churches and faith organisations.