Positive Money response to Bank of England Financial Stability Report

Responding to the Bank of England’s latest Financial Stability Report, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said:

“While it is great that the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee has embraced the climate stress testing recommended by the recent Future of Finance review, the Bank of England still seems to be taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to irreversible climate breakdown.

“Action on climate change should not be contingent on stress testing. We don’t need to wait for the results of stress tests to know that banks continuing to pour billions into fossil fuels increases climate risk.

“The Bank of England can not afford to take any further delay in using the tools at its disposal to penalise investments in fossil fuels, consistent with how it treats other financial stability risks such as irresponsible mortgage lending.

“As the latest Financial Stability Report recognises, the window for an orderly transition to a carbon-neutral economy is finite and closing. The longer the central bank allows banks to pump money into carbon bubbles, the harder and more disorderly the transition to a green economy will be.”

Notes to editors

1. The Financial Stability Report can be viewed in full here.

2. Since the November 2015 Paris Agreement, banks have invested $1.9 trillion into new fossil fuel projects globally, and UK lenders are among the worst culprits. For instance, Barclays has poured over $85bn into some of the most environmentally ruinous activities, including extracting tar sands oil, arctic and ultra-deepwater oil and gas and fracking. The City of London as a whole is responsible for financing fossil fuel assets representing 15% of carbon emissions

3. Positive Money held a protest with Fossil Free London ahead of the Financial Stability Report’s publication this morning handing in a petition which called on the Bank of England to be bolder in treating climate breakdown as an existential threat to financial and economic stability. The petition, which has attracted nearly 10,000 signatures both offline and online, can be viewed here: bit.ly/SignGreenBoE

4. Photos of the action can be viewed on the Positive Money Twitter. Professional photos are also available through Reuters.

5. The protestor’s demands are based on green central banking recommendations put forward in Positive Money’s ‘Green Bank of England’ report, released last year – https://positivemoney.org/greenbankofengland/

6. Positive Money campaigns for a money and banking system which supports a fair, democratic and sustainable economy. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of over 65,000 supporters. https://positivemoney.org/

7. Fossil Free London is a campaign and coordinating body in London which aims to work towards a fossil fuel free city. It has an explicit aim to link up divestment campaigns to broader environmental justice issues such as air pollution, housing and London’s role as a key global financial centre. https://gofossilfree.org/uk/london/

8. For more information or to arrange a briefing/interview with a spokesperson or for any other questions regarding the campaign please contact simon.youel@positivemoney.org.uk or on 07908 037569