Who’s Financing Fossil Fuels?

While commercial and investment banks aren’t solely to blame, they do play an enormous role in financing the fossil fuel industry. This data comes from the financial report Banking on Climate Chaos, which analyzes fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest banks.

What can we do about it? As individuals, we need to pressure these institutions to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Here are just a few ways to do that:

Move your money. While I don’t believe in placing all the onus on consumers, one way to pressure banks to divest from fossil fuel industries is to literally move your money. If you have a bank account with one of these institutions, you are an investor in fossil fuels. A great place to start is by searching for financial institutions that are B Corp certified. To receive B Corp certification, companies are “legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.”

Campaign for divestment. All six of these banks serve millions of customers – they’ve secured their place in the American financial sector, and they’re not going away anytime soon. We must campaign against their support for fossil fuel corporations while encouraging them to invest more in renewable energy.