With exactly a month to go until the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves lays out the plans to balance the books in the Budget, it’s a good time to think about our own financial priorities too.
Whatever comes in the Budget, the good news is that the government has already announced that it won’t fight the legal challenge to the Rosebank and Jackdaw oilfields brought by Greenpeace and Uplift. Last week a court in Scotland ruled that further legal challenges to the developments can be brought - this doesn’t mean the new oil fields definitely won’t proceed but there’s the possibility they won’t.
And today sees the final day of coal power in Britain, making us the first G7 country to fully phase out coal-powered electricity.
Money is beginning to flow in the right direction – away from oil and coal.
Labour has referred to the climate emergency as, ‘the most fundamental threat that our world faces,’ and whether you’re a supporter of Labour or not, it would be hard to disagree with this view.
So if this is the case, what are you doing to move your money away from fossil fuels?
You have more power to make a difference to climate change with your money than you might have realised.
This week is Good Money Week, a campaign designed to highlight the more sustainable choices available for our money – according to their website: ‘helping you find sustainable and ethical options for banking, pensions, savings and investments.’
Research we commissioned from Opinium* shows that almost two thirds (61 percent) of people believe banks have a responsibility to make a positive contribution towards climate change and 59 percent of people want their bank to use their money in a way that is good for the environment, yet only two in five (42 percent) feel their bank is committed to tackling climate change.
Additionally just over half (51 percent) of people feel individuals can make a positive contribution towards climate change with how they manage their finances.
That being the case, what will you do this Good Money Week to make your money good for people and the planet?
Here’s how Zero can help.
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Our vision at Zero is a world where money is used for the good of the planet
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We won’t support the fossil fuel sector. We promise no money that ever flows through Zero will be used for anything that isn’t helping us all reach net zero as soon as possible
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Through our GreenScore, we help you understand your own individual environmental impacts, and offer you tips and tricks to make small changes with the potential to make a big difference for the planet
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We’re building a community of likeminded people whose combined effort has the chance to make a big impact on climate change
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We are B Corp Certified which means our business has been verified to meet high standards of social and environmental performance
What else can you do?
As well as moving your everyday money away from the UK’s fossil-fuel-financing Big Five banks (Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Natwest and Lloyds), switching your savings, pension or investments will also pay dividends for the planet.
According to Make My Money Matter’s Climate Action Report, moving your pension to a more sustainable option would reduce your carbon footprint 21 times more than switching to a vegetarian diet, giving up flying and changing energy provider – although, clearly, those are also GREAT actions you can take on climate change.
As English zoologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall said: 'You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.’
Stem the flow; sign up to the Zero waitlist.
*Opinium interviewed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults aged 18 and above in June 2022 on behalf of Zero.