As part of our commitment to enabling better futures for children and young people, we are always looking improve the negative impact we might have on the planet.
Last year, Team Sprung cleaned up our digital carbon footprint. We made sure to understand and make improvements to how our digital use reduced greenhouse gas emissions – emissions produced by digital technology, resources, devices, tools and platforms. For 2023, we made it our mission to ‘green’ our money…
“Put your money where you want the world to go. It’s as simple and as powerful as that” -Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary UNFCCC
As the world faces pressing environmental and social challenges we need to look for solutions in every aspect of our life and how we manage our money is just one other area where we can make big changes for good.
We worked with resources from Make My Money Matter to start our greener money journey…
Our Banking:
“We all know that the money you keep in the bank doesn’t just sit in a vault with your name on it until you walk up to a cash machine. Banks use it for other purposes such as to make loans and investments – far too often to companies and projects that damage the environment and society.” – Make My Money Matter
A very important step in helping to fight climate change and help create a better, safer, more sustainable world is to stop depositing funds into banks that support investment into fossil fuels.
We were banking with Barclays which, as it turns out, is the most unethical bank on the market. Barclays impact on the environment is so poor, it is dubbed the “dirtiest bank in Europe” by campaigners.
So we turned to Good with Money.com did some research, and made the switch to The Co-operative Bank. Not only did it meet our values on the environment but also other areas of our ethics too.Quite simply the Co-operative Bank has had an ethical policy since 1992, meaning it doesn’t lend to companies that don’t fit with its values, so it doesn’t do business with the oil, coal, or gas industries.
The process of switching your main business bank account is not an easy one. It took time and energy, but we believe the long term benefit will be very valuable. We’re now proud to say with confidence that our money is in no way connected to fossil fuels, and that is is worth every effort.
Our Pensions:
We also checked our pension provider using the Make my Money Matter Climate Action Tool, a set of questions based on the Climate Action Report to hold pension providers accountable on their climate action. We used the questions to find out if our pension is acting on climate and put pressure on the industry to increase the scale and ambition of its action. And you can too…
Take Action:
Now, we’re inviting you to join us…
- Change your bank account and stop investing in fossil fuels. If your pension isn’t green or can make improvements, tell your provider using Make my Money Matter’s prewritten statement: https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/21x/#act-now
- Sign the Green Pensions Charter: https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/charter
- And finally while you’re here… Money is just one area where we can have a impact. If you work in the culture or heritage sector, then you can join us and unite to call for climate negotiators at COP28 to put cultural heritage, arts, and creative industries at the heart of climate action. Sign up to the Climate Heritage Network’s campaign: https://www.climateheritage.org/signatories