Dear Reader,
Today, the UK has taken two big leaps forward in tackling climate change.
If we’re going to stop irreversible climate change, we need our central banks to decarbonise the financial system. So a year ago Positive Money called for two key things to happen, when we launched our groundbreaking report in parliament ‘A Green Bank of England’.
> For the Bank of England to disclose the climate risk on its balance sheet
> For our politicians to update the Bank of England’s mandate to include tackling climate change.
Today, Governor Mark Carney committed the Bank of England to doing the first thing. Win! And the Labour Party announced they’re going to look into doing the second thing. Double win!
The Labour Party are going to consult on changing the Bank of England’s mandate to reflect the climate change emergency. [1] This very likely means they want to empower the Bank of England to directly tackle climate change as part of its work - which could pave the way to decarbonising our whole financial system.
This is big stuff, and will put pressure on other parties to put forward their own ideas as well. And what’s (nearly!) as exciting, is that this has happened because of work by Positive Money.
A year ago, we launched our report alongside a panel of politicians from all the major parties. [2] In it we called on the government to “change the Bank of England's mandate to hardwire it for sustainability.” [3] We handed our report directly to Jeremy Corbyn’s office and met with Labour’s Shadow Treasury Team. And it made it to page 2 of the Financial Times.
As we revealed in our report, there’s tonnes of things the Bank of England could be doing to make our money and banking system greener. But so far it’s been held back, because its mandate is too narrow. But if our politicians decide to update that mandate, then suddenly the Bank could do much more to decarbonise our economy.
And the good news doesn’t stop there! Not only has Mark Carney committed to disclosing climate risk on the Bank of England’s balance sheet, he’s also called on private banks to get serious about tackling climate change. [4] We’ll be watching closely to see how the banks respond, but this is nevertheless an important public move.
Again, this is a direct result of pressure piled on from Positive Money supporters like you. Back in January, after hundreds of us shared our suggested questions for Carney, our very own Simon Youel asked him in person why the Bank wasn’t doing more to tackle climate change (check out the video below). [5]
What’s happened today shows what’s possible when citizens all over the country do what they can to change things. The Youth Strikers and Extinction Rebellion have propelled the issue to the top of the mainstream agenda. We have provided the policy solutions the politicians and bankers need. It’s a thing of beauty!
Reversing climate change is no small task, but these announcements are a big and important step forward. And they’re in no small part down to the work of the Positive Money movement.
Thank you for being part of it,
Rachel, Rob, Hannah, David, Simon, Paul and the rest of the Positive Money team
PS: Positive Money relies on donations from generous individuals like you to carry out our research work and campaign for a fairer and greener money and banking system. Please will you make a secure donation now so together we can win sooner?
Notes:
[1] The Guardian: Labour suggests potential green mandate for Bank of England:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/17/labour-bank-england-green-mandate-john-mcdonnell-carney
Labour announcement: https://labour.org.uk/press/mark-carneys-intervention-climate-change-breakthrough-moment-mcdonnell/
[2] Our report launch event: https://positivemoney.org/2018/05/green-bank-england-paper-launch-event/
[3] Positive Money report: 'A Green Bank of England’: http://bit.ly/Green-BoE
[4] The Guardian: Mark Carney tells global banks they cannot ignore climate change dangers: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/17/mark-carney-tells-global-banks-they-cannot-ignore-climate-change-dangers
Bank of England to disclose assessment of how it manages climate-related financial risk in the 2019/20 annual report:
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2019/april/boe-to-disclose-assessment-of-how-it-manages-climate-related-financial-risk
[5] Our Policy and Advocacy officer Simon Youel asks Governor Mark Carney why the Bank of England hasn't disclosed its climate change-related financial risks at 1 minute 24 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqYbzOoSoA&t=133s
Positive Money relies on donations from generous individuals like you to carry out our research, education work and campaign for a fairer money and banking system.
Please will you make a secure donation now so together we can win sooner?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment