Father Christmas visits the Bank of England

This morning Father Christmas helped us deliver an early Christmas present to the Bank of England to expose a dirty secret: its support for coal. 

Members of Positive Money staff and supporters gathered outside the Bank for a photo opportunity as well as a climate carol sing song. We grabbed the attention of hundreds of passersby and delivered a clear message: all we want for Christmas is a #CoalFreeBoE. 

While the Bank often warns about the “devastating effects” of climate change, it’s currently at risk of undermining the Government’s own target to phase out coal by 2025.Through its quantitative easing programme and collateral framework, the Bank is implicitly investing in the dirtiest fossil fuel of all: coal. 

UK politicians often claim we’re international leaders in the fight against climate change but when it comes to central banks, ours is lagging behind. We demand the Bank of England follow in the footsteps of neighbours, such as the Bank of France, and pledge to go coal-free in the New Year. 

We choose the 16th December to coincide with the release of their biannual Financial Stability report. Since the climate crisis poses a huge threat to financial stability, one of the best things the Bank could do to achieve stability in the future is to get out of coal today. 

We ended the action by handing in one symbolic piece of coal to a staff member and asked for it to be delivered straight to the Governor’s desk. We’ll let you know if he gets in touch to complain about his Christmas present!  

To add your support to the campaign, sign our petition demanding the Bank ‘Unleash Green Investment Now!’ and stay tuned for more updates in the New Year.