Common wisdom says to put your money where your values are. If the wildfires, heat waves, droughts, and floods that have been ravaging much of the world lately have left you with an unshakeable sense of grief, dread, or both, chances are that your values align with ending the climate crisis, which makes such extreme weather events more frequent and intense. But what if you’ve already donated to your favorite climate nonprofits and want to do more with your dollars? One option is to move them from a big bank that funds the fossil fuel industry to a smaller, more sustainability-oriented bank that doesn’t.
Big banks direct a ton of money to the fossil fuel companies that have largely driven the climate crisis. A report published by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), in collaboration with other organizations, found that the 60 largest commercial and private investment banks gave the fossil fuel industry $3.8 trillion in the five years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, a plan to significantly lower global greenhouse gas emissions. A sizable portion of this money goes toward expanding fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure, according to the report. The banks responsible include household names like Well Fargo, Bank of America, and Citibank. JPMorgan Chase is the worst offender by far, pumping $51.3 billion into fossil fuel companies in 2020 alone.
