Invest in a positive future
Money makes the world go around. But what if you could make sure your hard-earned dosh was turning the world into a better place… rather than the opposite?
By moving your pension, savings, investments and current account to ethical funds and providers, you can invest in our society and environment - all the while getting the financial returns you deserve.
Environment
As you know, burning fossil fuels like oil and coal creates greenhouse gases. These destabilise our climate and threaten our future. There are plenty of clean energy sources available, and the sooner they replace fossil fuels, the more likely we are to avoid climate catastrophe.
To speed up this transition (and we really don’t have any time to waste)6, there is a global movement for investors of all shapes and sizes to stop funding fossil fuel companies. This is known as divestment.
For a long time, fossil fuel investments were the backbone of many, if not most, portfolios - including pension funds. These days, although it’s easier to avoid investing in fossil fuels, it still requires an active choice rather than being the default option.
If you want to double down on your positive impact, switch to a pension, bank account, portfolio or fund that’s divested from fossil fuels and is actively investing in renewables instead of fossil fuels. And rest assured, you’ll be in good company: there are more and more institutions dumping their fossil fuel funds in favour of cleaner alternatives.8
50%
Society
Just like investment portfolios built on fossil fuels, it has long been socially acceptable to invest in socially unethical companies. Weird eh? Just so you know, socially unethical can and does include anything and everything from gambling and pornography, to tobacco and weapons.
These days, most ‘ethical’ funds and banks will guarantee that your pounds and pennies aren’t helping companies that contribute to the destabilisation or harm of our society. With investing, these are commonly known as ESGs - which means they meet certain Environmental, Social and Governance standards. But again, socially responsible investing principles aren’t always the default option - it’s always worth double checking where your money is going.
Remember the money in your savings and current account is being leveraged by your bank to lend out as well.
As with environmental investments, you can go beyond divesting from unethical funds to actively seeking out funds that positively impact society by investing in, for example, charities, education and healthcare.9
Money
Do you shop locally? Buy green energy? Prefer fair trade chocolate? We all choose how to spend our money and (pardon the pun), change is in our pockets. With these kinds of everyday purchasing decisions, it’s easy to decide whether an ‘ethical’ choice is good value for money. For example, a 20p premium on a sack of organic carrots? Sold.
But when it comes to how banks, pensions and investment firms spend our money, it can feel like that choice is taken away. Obviously, you’d rather not give your money to banks that are investing in fossil fuels,1 tobacco or the arms trade, but what else is on offer…?
Well here’s the good news: from banks, to pensions, to savings, there are more and more ethical investment options available.2 And, even better news, recent research from Morgan Stanley shows there is no financial tradeoff in the returns of sustainable funds and traditional funds. What’s more, sustainable funds may even offer lower market risk than traditional funds.3
However, it’s worth pointing out that comparisons between the long term performance of ethical and non-ethical funds (and, for the record, wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to make that choice?) is complex and often misleading.4 All we can say for sure that today, more than ever before, there are plenty of opportunities to make sure your money is safe, well-invested and doing good.
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Global Goals
In September 2017, an historic agreement was signed by UN member nations agreeing to work towards 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development by 2030, otherwise known as the SDGs.
Achieving these ambitious goals will require action from governments, businesses, NGOs, and individuals alike. We can - and must - all play our part.
1.a: Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
2.a: Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries
3.c: Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States
4.c: By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States
5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
6.a: By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
7.2: By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
9.3: Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets
10.0: Reduced Inequalities
11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
12.6: Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere
17.3: Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources
Success Stories
240
Pledges
in total
268kg
CO2
pledged