A Campaign to Stop the Big Oil Money Pipeline and Protect Our Winters
Today, I have something I’m exceptionally proud of to share with you.
Since January, I’ve been working with Protect Our Winters Canada to lead their marquee campaign for the year, which focuses on divestment and launches today, June 22.
Much like Champ in the movie Anchorman, you may be wondering to yourself, “what in the hell is divestment?”
Divestment is the next big deal in addressing climate change. It looks at the way financial institutions (banks, insurers, investment funds) support industries that play a disproportionate role in the climate crisis – i.e., fossil fuels. Here in Canada, every single major bank is in the top 25 financers of fossil fuels in the world. In fact, since the Paris Climate Accord was signed in 2016, the banks have given over $500 billion to the fossil fuel industry (equivalent to $1.4 million per day since the French began burning heretics and the Byzantine Army defeated the Georgians 1000 years ago).
You might have read that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. These are all fossil fuel companies – and they are all financed by institutions that you and I are helping to fund. You might not have a direct investment in Exxon, but your bank almost certainly does, and the money in your bank account is helping them. In fact, the carbon footprint of having a $100,000 investment portfolio is equivalent to driving 4 combustion engine cars each year.
What’s to be done? While small retail customers like us don’t hold a lot of sway individually, we know that banks are EXTREMELY protective of their reputations. Reputation has a direct correlation with banks’ risk ratings, and therefore how much it costs them to borrow money (and therefore their profit). We figured the best way to make an impact with the banks was to show them that their reputation is at risk when they finance companies that prevent us reaching the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
What is POW and Why do We Care About This?
Protect Our Winters unites outdoor enthusiasts in the fight against climate change. Although the organization began with shrinking snow levels, its key principle is that anyone who enjoys spending time in nature, whether it’s climbing a mountain or taking a walk in the park, has a vested interest in protecting what they love. Natural spaces are also a significant contributor to economies globally, but climate change is rapidly destroying the lands we ski, hike, bike and paddle through, and that’s not OK with us.
So, POW has created a tool that allows Canadians to send an email direct to their bank’s CEO, asking them to develop a concrete plan to divest from fossil fuels. (Fun fact – I played investigative journalist and tracked down the email addresses, and if you think I felt like Nellie Bly you are absolutely right). If you’re Canadian, please visit the website and send a letter to your bank’s CEO – we want them to feel the weight of an avalanche of emails in their inboxes.
If you’re not Canadian or you don’t bank with a Big 5, I still invite you to check out the campaign website. Partly because I wrote it and it would make me feel good to know you saw it. But mostly because this isn’t just a Canadian, big bank problem. Every financial institution in the world is financing the destruction of this wildly beautiful planet of ours, and the more you know, the more you’re empowered to change.
You don’t have to be a skier or mountain biker or anything else to see that the writing is on the wall for the fossil fuel industry, and that it’s time governments and the finance world stopped propping them up. Even TD Bank’s own Chief Economist has said “this industry isn’t turning around”.
As an individual who would presumably like to retire one day, you should be worried about this – banks and investment funds risk sitting on billions of dollars’ worth of stranded assets when the balance tips and the cost and risk of extraction outweighs the profit. It’s critical to plan for divestment now, while the line graphs showing how comfortable our little monies are is still going up. It’s critical to support the people who work in those industries, and the towns that rely on them, to transition with as little negative impact as possible.
It’s no longer OK to keep our heads in the (oil) sands. Collectively, we have the power to change, and, like most things in this world, it starts with the money.
What else can I do?
Learn about your bank’s impact by exploring the Rainforest Action Network interactive report. A weird mix of shocking and quite fun.
Explore sustainable investment options. Do your research, as some of these funds aren’t as green as you’d think (and I’m not a financial advisor), but sustainable funds have been performing extremely well and are an increasingly mainstream option. I’ve included the returns chart from my balanced sustainable fund below just to give you an idea.
Call your bank/pension fund/insurance company. Let them know that you’d like to see a concrete plan for divestment.
Talk to your friends and family about divestment. Very few people realize that the bank account that their monthly pay cheque goes into is helping to finance
