The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that at the rate we are going, even a 2-degree Centigrade limit in our temperature rise will be out of sight. We usually don’t think of banks as contributing to the fossil fuel industry, but they do through their lending practices.
A new report from the Center of American Progress and the Sierra Club calls on banks to re-examine their lending practices and to look at the environmental impact of their portfolios. Using only publicly available data, the eight largest U.S. banks put together support more emissions than even the U.S. or China itself.
Putting pressure on politicians is one thing, but how to do that on banks? Partly by disclosing where their true financial interests lie. Princeton University has just decided to disinvest in all publicly traded fossil fuels. What about banks? Supporting fossil fuels is like putting a gun to our heads. We need new approaches towards money and banks.
Prayer for the Day
Often overwhelmed by forces around us that are larger than life,
We come to you, O God, for we are so small by comparison;
Unsure of how to manage our money, we let others make decisions,
But we know, O God, that we ourselves must be held accountable.
Guide our searches for stability in such a way that we do not betray you,
And help us delve into how our own assets are managed.
In the name of the One who touched the earth,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
At its core, the issue here really is that straightforward. Everyone is a stakeholder in the Fossil Free Research movement because the production of knowledge, discourse, and policy around climate change affects us all.
- Michael Mann, UPenn professor, author, The New Climate War
- Ilana Cohen, student activist in Fossil Free Research
Asset managers financed an estimated 1.3 billion tCO2e with over US $27.3 trillion in assets under management.
- Sierra Club Report
Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God. Nor for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
Your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house,
Or a goat from your folds, for every wild animal of the forest is mine
Psalm 50: 7-10.