Guest Blog: How to make your money matter
by Izzy Howden, Campaign Manager at Make My Money Matter
GCC’s new Guest Blog series puts the spotlight on organisations across the world who are all working in creative ways to secure an environmentally responsible future. Views expressed are the author’s own.
“The UK pensions industry is worth £3 trillion, with pension funds estimated to invest over £88 billion into the fossil fuel industry.”
As businesses across the UK grapple with how to reduce their carbon emissions, they are missing a poorly understood yet extremely potent climate action: harnessing the hidden power of their pensions.
Yet a lack of awareness, poor transparency and a passive approach to pensions means that, from a sustainability perspective, they remain marginalised.
Make My Money Matter is changing this - campaigning to highlight the links between corporate pensions and the climate crisis, and working to ensure all companies take urgent steps to green their schemes.
To shine a light on this critical issue, alongside Scottish Widows and Route2 we produced a report that looks at the carbon footprint of business pensions. By assessing the emissions associated with corporate pensions – and comparing those to the more commonly reported scopes 1 and 2 company operational emissions – we can see for the first time the carbon footprint of pensions side by side with corporate emissions.
Specifically, this research shows that the total carbon emissions financed by FTSE100 company pensions is estimated to be 131 million tonnes, equivalent to roughly one third of the UK’s annual carbon emissions.
This means that the carbon footprint of business pensions is seven times greater than their operational emissions.
How to Take Action
As a first step, Make My Money Matter is calling on all organisations to sign the Make My Money Matter Pledge, commit to taking one of the following steps and joining their movement:
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Question your pension
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Question your bank
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Build the movement
This first step represents the beginning of an integrated journey with their pension provider or their trustees to drive longer term sustainability for their pension investments.
Beyond this, businesses can review the environmental impact of their broader finances – their corporate bank accounts, and their investments – and so deploy their full arsenal of tools in the battle against climate change.
Finally, businesses must champion this agenda. By using their voice to engage their staff and customers – and capitalising on their platform to advocate for reform amongst pension schemes and trustees - businesses can drive systemic change across the pensions industry and beyond.
Further relevant reading from Make My Money Matter:
Izzy Howden is Campaign Manager at Make My Money Matter, a people-powered campaign working to transform the financial system so it puts people and planet on par with profit.
