The Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church in the UK has signed the Green Investment Declaration, a global pledge to invest in climate solutions. The Methodists join other faith groups including the Quakers in Britain, the Diocese of Truro (Church of England) and the US-based Society of the Holy Child Jesus in aligning their money with their environmental values.
Supported by UK charities Operation Noah and JustMoney Movement – and endorsed by the World Council of Churches and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland – the Green Investment Declaration encourages Christian organisations around the world to move their money into climate solutions and to speak up about the need for increased global investment in the technologies and solutions that will address the climate crisis.
Andrew Harper, Deputy CEO of Epworth Investment Management which is owned by the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church, said, ‘Millions around the world are suffering the most extreme effects of the climate emergency…people are dying, homes are being lost, there are catastrophes, floods, all sorts of natural disasters, and agriculture is under immense strain…we must act now…(which) is why we signed the Green Investment Declaration…we believe the climate emergency is real to the fullest extent and that action must be taken today.’
After divesting from planet-heating fossil fuels in 2021, the Methodist Central Finance Board has now committed to investing more than 5% of its financial assets in climate solutions.
Finance is critical to enabling the world to transition away from fossil fuels. Climate finance is growing, but not fast enough, with experts saying the world needs a huge and immediate injection of private finance alongside public funds to transition towards a greener future. Globally Christian groups manage hundreds of billions of pounds of investments, with a UN official calling global faith groups the third largest economic power on earth. The Church Investors Group’s 67 members, largely from Britain and Ireland, have combined investment assets of over £26bn.
