———- Forwarded message ———
From: Hannah, Positive Money <info@positivemoney.org.uk>
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2021 at 15:51
Subject: We’ve won big Peter 🥳
To: <peterchallen@gmail.com>
| We did it, Peter. Together we’ve won a new mandate for the Bank of England to tackle climate change! On Wednesday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the Bank’s mandate will now “reflect the importance of environmental sustainability and the transition to net zero.” [1] This is a big victory. It means the Bank, which has huge power over where money flows, can now use everything in its toolkit to fight the climate crisis. We’re the first country in the western world to give the central bank an explicit green mandate. [2] But more than that – it’s proof of the huge changes we can win when we fight for them together. It’s proof that top notch research + timely campaigns + harnessing the power of our 30,000-strong community is a winning combination. We first called for this change in our report: A Green Bank of England, back in 2018. Since then, the Bank’s fallen far short on climate action, for example letting billions end up in the hands of big polluters. [3] So we switched our pressure onto Sunak and the Treasury, who hold the power to give the Bank a stronger mandate to tackle climate change. Last month hundreds of Positive Money supporters donated to an advert on the frontpage of Rishi’s local newspaper, calling for this change. Nearly 65,000 people signed the petition we delivered with SumofUs and 350org. And last year, we got 125 experts to sign an open letter to the Chancellor that we organised with the New Economics Foundation, which was covered in The Guardian and Financial Times. [4] And then Rishi Sunak took action. This win is a huge testament to years of perseverance and hard work, but most of all, to the support of every single one of the 30,000 heroes like you Peter, that make Positive Money what it is. We simply couldn’t have won like this without you. Now we need to make sure the Bank of England turns this new mandate into concrete actions – like excluding fossil fuels from their quantitative easing schemes and redirecting public money towards new green jobs. Because the next few months are crucial. The UK is hosting COP26 (the UN’s big international climate conference) in Glasgow this November. It’s a huge and important event where we have a big opportunity to push the Bank of England to show leadership on the international stage – and help inspire greener central banks all over the world. We look forward to working with you to scale up our campaign in the coming months. Watch this space.Many thanks for all your support, Hannah, Rachel and the rest of the Positive Money team Notes: [1] Big win: new green mandate for the Bank of England:https://positivemoney.org/2021/03/big-win-new-green-mandate-for-the-bank-of-england/ Here’s some of our media coverage and reaction to the announcement: • https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/environment/2021/03/budget-showed-gap-between-conservatives-green-rhetoric-and-reality • https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/finance-news/bank-of-england-instructed-to-align-monetary-policy-with-net-zero-target.html • https://businessinsider.mx/rss-international/the-bank-of-england-says-it-will-make-its-28-billion-corporate-bond-buying-scheme-greener-as-climate-change-moves-up-the-agenda/ [2] Sunak’s Budget falls short of the U.K’s Big Climate Ambitions: • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-03/sunak-s-budget-falls-short-of-u-k-s-big-climate-ambitions [3] New report: Where are the conditions for the Bank of England’s broken bailout scheme? • https://positivemoney.org/2020/07/new-report-where-are-the-conditions-for-the-bank-of-englands-broken-bailout-scheme/ [4] Surprise for Sunak: 60,000 demand climate action on the front page of his local paper: • https://positivemoney.org/2021/02/surprise-for-sunak-60000-demand-climate-action-on-frontpage-of-his-local-paper/ Bank of England needs more powers to decarbonise economy, say experts: • https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/16/bank-of-england-needs-more-powers-to-decarbonise-economy-say-experts Big investors push UK to go further on green finance: • https://www.ft.com/content/cff58c77-ed90-49ff-bd1f-94b69d00d054 Positive Money relies on donations from generous individuals like you to carry out our research, education work and campaign for a fairer money and banking system. Please will you make a secure donation now so together we can win sooner? FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA |
