How green is your money? Make a fuss/make a switch.
Retiree with superannuation? Young person with a bank account? Company shareholder? Your savings are invested in projects that can either increase global warming – or slow it down. Do you know how your bank or super fund invests your money? This short survey will help you find out. When governments fail to act with urgency, others need to step up. Forward-thinking companies recognise that for their survival, and ours, they need to divest from fossil fuels. Taking care of the climate is responsible economic management. How is YOUR money being used? Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle is working with Market Forces to help you tell your financial institution that YOU recognise the risk of business-as-usual. Don’t just make a switch, make a fuss to effect change.
What you can do
• Take the survey to see what your financial institutions are up to and what you can do about it.
• Share the survey with your friends and family to get them thinking
• Put your bank on notice and tell your super fund you want them to do better (Market Forces website has a letter ready for you to send).
• Find a new bank or super fund that better aligns with your values – but make a fuss to your existing one first!
CCBR asked 132 respondents asking what they knew about – and what they wanted from – their banks and super funds when it came to investments in fossil fuels. An overwhelming majority were concerned about their bank’s involvement, though many had already switched to environmentally conscious banks. Subsequently we held three market stalls (at Rozelle, Glebe and Summer Hill) providing letters for visitors to send to their bank, telling it that if it continues to choose fossil fuels, they will choose another bank. At least 200 letters were sent to each of the four big banks.