Green Business
troubles you. Ask them how their investments in fossil fuels stack up against those in renewable energy.
If enough depositors start kicking up a fuss, this will
filter through to the boardroom and may help facilitate change. I don't expect they'll drop their coal interests like a hot potato, but they may start at least
offering more green investment options. The more
people take up on these options, the faster portfolios and focus will shift.
searching on "green banks", as that will bring up
the shallow stuff, try using the search term : ethical
banking.
Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
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Clean coal - don't believe the hype.
If your bank comes back to you and state they are
investing in the coal industry, but it's next generation
coal, clean coal, CCS or other similar spin - reject
that explanation. Clean coal is an oxymoron and
carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is still unproven on a commercial scale.
Banks that put their faith in these yet to be fully realised technologies may as well just be betting their
depositor's money on a horse race in my opinion
and they are certainly betting against the planet. In
the not too distant future, I believe coal based investments will be a liability, not an asset - and then
some banks are going to find themselves in very hot
water.
Time to change banks? To who?
This is the big question - and it really depends on
where you live; but skimming over the list of 93 institutions listed in the report I mentioned above, I
think the general rule of thumb is the bigger the
bank, the more likely they support the coal industry.
If you aren't happy with the way your bank treats the
environment, perhaps start looking at smaller
banks, building societies and credit unions - you'll
often find they offer better interest rates on deposits
and loans too. Some small banks have also started
up in recent years with green and ethical banking
has their focus rather than as a feature.
A good place to start looking for these really green
financial institutions is via Google - and instead of
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