How do we protect earth's biodiversity? Start with banks!

Celebrating biodiversity is this year’s theme for World Environment Day and Fair Finance networks are highlighting the influential role of their banks’ investments in activities and businesses that harm the environment.

Global biodiversity is declining at frightening pace, threatening our species, ecosystems and food supplies. Industries such as oil and gas, forestry, fishing, and agriculture - which banks invest in - can have a major impact on our environment. Banks have a responsibility to ensure that they are not financing environmental damage, and to use their role to influence companies to operate sustainably and adhere to good environmental standards and practices.

Fair Finance Guides assess banks and their policies on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity with a methodology based on internationally agreed and recognized standards. Unfortunately it's clear that most banks' policies fall far short of what is needed to protect our species and habitats from further harm. We publish this data so the public can decide for themselves if they want to do business with a bank operating in this way - and to tell their banks to invest responsibly or switch to a bank that does. 

Check out the public campaigns today from Fair Finance Guide Sweden and Fair Finance Guide Norway inviting the public to demand change by telling their banks to do better!

Or check out one of our other local Fair Finance Guides to see how banks rank on this topic.