Anna Pick
Bank of England told to restrict fossil finance ahead of Financial Stability Report
13 December, 2021London, 13th December 2021 Climate campaigners gathered outside the Bank of England today to demand that policymakers introduce restrictions on UK banks’ investments in fossil fuels, ahead of this afternoon’s Financial Stability Report press conference. In a stunt organised by research and campaign group Positive Money, activists wore masks of Rishi Sunak and Andrew Bailey’s [...]
6 in 10 Brits want to end fossil fuel finance
10 November, 2021London, 10th November 2021 More than 6 in 10 people in the UK support policies to stop financial firms fuelling the climate crisis, new polling has revealed. 61% of 2000 UK adults surveyed by Opinium Research were in favour of ‘stopping banks, insurers and other private financiers from supporting and profiting from fossil fuel extraction’, [...]
UK could see digital pound by ‘second half of the decade’: Positive Money response
9 November, 2021London, 9 November 2021 The Treasury and the Bank of England today announced that a decision on whether to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be made following a public consultation next year. The earliest date for the launch of a CBDC would be “in the second half of the decade”, according to [...]
Bank of England announces plan to green corporate bond purchases: Positive Money response
5 November, 2021London, Friday 5 November 2021 Responding the the Bank of England’s announcement today on “greening” its Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme, David Barmes, senior economist at Positive Money, said: “It’s positive that the Bank of England is excluding coal from its purchases, but it raises the question of why they are not also doing the same [...]
#DefundClimateChaos: Hundreds of activists bring climate action to the Bank of England’s doorstep
1 November, 2021On Friday 29th October, the eve of COP26, thousands of people took part in a global day of action calling on governments, banks and insurers to #DefundClimateChaos. The event was led by youth strikers and climate activists who wanted to take a stand against the biggest funders of fossil fuels and climate chaos. Positive Money [...]
Bank of England moves closer to climate capital rules
28 October, 2021London, 28 October 2021 Bank of England moves closer to climate capital rules: Positive Money response Research and campaign group Positive Money has welcomed the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) of the Bank of England’s announcement this morning that it is prepared to adjust the amount of capital banks hold to reflect climate risk. In its [...]
Net Zero Strategy ‘falls short’
19 October, 2021London, 19th October 2021 Research and campaign group Positive Money has today criticised the government’s long-awaited Net Zero Strategy as falling short ahead of crucial climate talks in Glasgow. The strategy, which builds on the Prime Minister’s ‘10 point plan’, sets out the government’s approach to ‘building back greener’ and ‘levelling up’ the country by [...]
Bailey delays the inevitable on climate capital rules
16 July, 2021London, 16 July 2021 Asked by MPs whether climate change will be incorporated into the Bank of England’s capital rules, Bank governor Andrew Bailey has stated that further research is needed to determine whether the current framework adequately protects the financial system from the risks created by climate change. In a letter to MPs on [...]
Bank of England drops dividend rules
13 July, 2021London, 13 July 2021 The Bank of England has lifted restrictions on dividend payouts to shareholders at UK banks, after limits were imposed in March 2020 to encourage banks to preserve capital for lending to support the pandemic economy. The Financial Policy Committee’s biannual report states that “extraordinary guardrails on shareholder distributions are no longer [...]