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Charles Middleton writes: The power of people's savings hit the headlines as thousands of anxious Northern Rock customers queued for hours to take out their money. But while depositors' concerns about the bank's future caused the run on Northern Rock, issues around a different kind of sustainability led to queues outside a Dutch bank earlier this year. ABN Amro won the Financial Times Sustainable Bank of the Year 2007 award. But not everyone was quite so enthusiastic. The Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth (FoE) put the same ABN Amro top of their list of environmentally damaging banks, advising consumers to move their finances to more sustainable alternatives - like Triodos Bank. FoE argues that ABN Amro - and other mainstream banks like it - provide billions of euros to finance projects that harm the planet. The Dutch FoE's 'Not With My Money' campaign explains that mainstream banks invest in industries that cause climate change, and aims to persuade people to switch to more climate-conscious banks.
According to their research, transferring ten thousand euros (or around £6,750) in savings from a Dutch high-street bank to Triodos Bank, “results in as much reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as not driving your car for six months.”
The campaign led to queues of customers outside ABN Amro's headquarters, waiting to ceremonially cut up their debit cards making a clear statement to the bank about its environmental impact. While demand from people switching accounts as a result
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Triodos Bank finances companies, institutions and projects that add cultural value and benefit people and the environment, with the support of depositors and investors who want to encourage corporate social responsibility and a sustainable society. Fish4Ever work with Triodos and here Charles Middleton UK Managing Director, Triodos Bank writes about the need for ethical banking.
of the campaign swamped Triodos Bank's Dutch office. But how can changing banks make such an impact on your carbon footprint? Many don't think about it, but anyone who's got savings deposited in a bank is effectively lending it their money. Banks profit from lending this money out to someone else, but it's normally almost impossible to find out who Your money may be doing no harm, but equally could be helping to finance companies that actively damage communities and the environment. Ethical banks, like Triodos Bank, are breaking the financial mould, with a more progressive approach that values people and planet as well as profit. |
| Triodos works like any other bank, but with one crucial difference: we only lend money to organisations whose work benefits people and the environment linking savers and investors that dream of a better world with the enterprises that are making it a reality. Triodos provides a full banking service to ethical businesses and charities working in areas ranging from renewable energy to recycling, and organic farming to fair trade. Customers include national names like Cafédirect and Greenpeace, as well as organisations making a difference locally, including independent ethical retailers and village shops. They benefit from being part of a wider community of positive people and organisations, while demonstrating their commitment to a more sustainable way of doing business. And because we publish details of everyone we lend money to, our savers can see where their money's working for themselves. Sustainable banking remains a small part of the colossal financial system, just as organic and ethical foods remain a small part of the grocery business but in both cases we are slowly winning the case with a growing movement of people who realise the power of their savings and the power of their spending. Triodos is by a long way the most natural partner for pioneer green and ethical businesses that are committed to a positive vision of the future, a vision that we not only share but that we are bound to by our very constitution. Visit www.triodos.co.uk or telephone our business banking line on 0800 328 2181 to find out more. |
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