The untapped power of Church investments to help fund climate solutions is enormous, which is why we’ve created a template letter to help denominations, churches and faith groups call on their investment management firms to offer dedicated funds or financial products which make a positive climate impact. Church and Church-related investments – which in the UK amount to tens of billions of pounds – should align with a Christian commitment to caring for creation, and investing in climate solutions would be much easier if churches’ investment management firms offered funds which only invested in climate solutions.
Download our template letter to adapt and send to your investment management firm.
As the world approaches critical climate thresholds, faith-based investors must translate moral conviction into financial action. This includes moving beyond fossil fuel divestment to invest directly in climate solutions that deliver both environmental impact and long-term financial returns.
Secure Pathways to Climate Impact
The UK’s Church Investors Group’s 67 member churches and church-related charities have combined assets totalling £26bn; if only 15% of the assets of the CIG’s members were invested for climate impact, it would amount to £3.9bn a year! Just imagine the difference that churches could make in driving the green economy, with this sort of commitment.
One way to accelerate this movement is to ask the managers of our churches’ money – namely, Investment Management Firms such as CCLA, Epworth, Rathbones, Casenove and others – to provide pathways for both church and secular clients to access longer-term direct investments with real-world impact.
Yet when Operation Noah and the JustMoney Movement consulted some of these investment managers, they reported back that they simply aren’t hearing these requests from their clientele. In fact, the main correspondence around ethical funds, according to the investment managers we spoke to, is solely around their financial performance, and concerns around potentially diminishing short-term returns.
As Christians we are called to live differently, to love God and neighbour, and to protect all creation. In a time of climate change and ecological breakdown, that call demands urgent attention. Churches’ wealth cannot remain idle when a heating world threatens vulnerable communities, species and habitats across the globe through increasing extreme weather events which in turn lead to increased famine, drought and flooding.
Recent high profile cases have set a precedent for churches and charities to consider environmental returns alongside financial ones, as part of fulfilling their fiduciary duty. In particular, the Butler-Sloss v Charity Commission case in 2022 clarified how charity trustees may consider ethical or environmental factors – particularly climate change – when making investment decisions.
Furthermore, the latest Stewardship Code guidance published this year by the Financial Reporting Council establishes new expectations of asset owners, such as the requirement for active engagement in the impact of their investments, and responsible investment policies that reflect values and strategy.
Therefore, we have produced a template letter for anyone responsible for church investments to edit and send to their investment manager. This letter clearly asks investment managers, firstly, what plans they have to develop or expand dedicated funds or products that enable clients to invest directly in long-term climate impact opportunities; and secondly, what options already exist within their fund offerings that might meet these needs, and how they could be adapted for church investors.
Take Action Now
Please download the letter and send it to your investment management firm/s to start this conversation. Or, if you aren’t responsible for church finance, please send it to your Treasurer or regional finance committee to act on.
