We were delighted to join friends from JustMoney Movement and Christian Climate Action to present the ‘Greening Our Money’ panel discussion at the Greenbelt Festival last weekend. The Hot House climate venue was packed at 9:30am on Saturday and the enthusiastic response reassured us that they weren’t just seeking shelter from the rain.
Our very own Sharon Hall mentioned the extreme weather being experienced by many people around the world as a result of the climate crisis. For example, recent floods in Alaska caused by storms and melting permafrost have made one town’s school unusable.
Sharon stressed the importance of considering which of our choices can make the biggest climate impact. Based on an average UK carbon footprint of 9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, living car free saves 2.4 tonnes of CO2e, while a plant-based diet avoids 0.8 tonnes CO2e. Avoiding one flight from London to Berlin saves 0.6 tonnes of CO2e – the same amount saved by three years of recycling – whereas moving your money from the worst bank to the best bank in terms of funding fossil fuel projects could save 1.7 tonnes CO2e if you have £5767 in the bank, but a lot more if you have more money (watch here).
Looking at what institutions like churches and charities can do with their investments led Sharon to summarise our successful campaign persuading churches and faith groups to divest from fossil fuels. She also outlined our new Green Investment Declaration and how churches can commit to making their investments line up with their faith values by investing in climate solutions in order to tackle the climate crisis (see our Greenopoly blog).
Drew from Christian Climate Action talked about some of the recent campaign actions undertaken by CCA members, including protesting at bank AGMs and National Trust venues. Drew also mentioned CCA’s ‘craftivism’, including making crochet oak leaves.
Rosie from JustMoney Movement talked about their education-based approach and the useful resources available to let individuals and churches have conversations about financial issues and compare different banking options. The team at JustMoney Movement have worked with student groups to help people connect the dots as to how early banking choices often endure. She promoted the Big Bank Switch and how they have been upskilling people to have conversations with banking professionals. Rosie also highlighted a new ‘Statement of Concern’ which addresses the problem of fossil fuel financing by banks.
Panel members addressed questions about virtue signalling, pension actions and the tension around whether climate investments offer good value returns. It was great to be part of the Hot House venue programme which included many other notable speakers including Kate Raworth, Gail Bradbrook and Simon Sharpe. The panel event and other talks are now available on the Greenbelt website, but you can also check out talks from previous years here (including our panel last year on ‘Church Land and the Climate Crisis’).
