Green Britain: Ecotricity time-lapse shows turbine construction
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New research claims that eco-friendly pensions are at least 57 times better at slashing Earth’s carbon footprint than a vegan diet, a report by Make My Money Matter, Aviva and Route2 reveals. It says a climate-friendly savings pot can cut one person’s CO2 footprint 21 times more than collectively giving up flying, going vegetarian and moving to a renewable energy provider.
Make My Money Matter has launched a 21x challenge, calling on UK savers to lobby their pension provider to go green.
The Daily Express Green Britain Needs You campaign has also been encouraging everybody to do their bit for the planet.
The new report adds that a greener pension can save 19 tons of carbon each year – significantly more than the average UK footprint of seven tons.
Savers with a large pot of at least £100,000 could stop 64 tons of carbon being emitted. That is equal to nine years of a Briton’s average footprint.
Nick Robins, professor in practice for sustainable finance at the London School of Economics, called the report a powerful and credible piece of analysis.
He said: “It shows how carbon emissions linked to the consumption of a financial service such as a pension can be compared with other parts of a person’s lifestyle such as diet, housing and transport.
“Shifting investment is an important way of sending signals to companies to accelerate action to support the net-zero transition.”
Film director Richard Curtis, who co-founded Make My Money Matter, said people had a “critical role” in driving change, so they can retire into a world “that isn’t on fire”. He said: “These findings confirm just how important our money is in the fight against climate change.
“We are calling on all UK savers to take the 21x challenge and ask their provider to go green in 2021.”
He added that providers going green means their scheme is “committed to urgent carbon reduction targets, halving emissions this decade and actively investing in solutions that help save our planet”.
Green pension are ‘major tool’ in fighting the crisis fight
Richard Curtis says green pensions are a “major tool” in the climate crisis fight.
The Love Actually writer launched the Make My Money Matter campaign to help turn Britain’s £2.6trillion pensions industry eco-friendly.
Curtis, 64, said: “There is a climate crisis, everybody is focusing on it. And [switching] is a major tool in the armoury.
“I’m finding my pension interesting for the first time. I think it’s actually a fun journey to go on.”
He says people want to take action with “the biggest chunk of money they’ll have” and not wait for the Government to make changes. He added: “People are saying ‘what can I actually do in my own life?’ It’s in tune with the times.”
He changed his bank account and pension arrangements as that “turns your money into an activist”. Dale Vince, 59, founder of green energy supplier Ecotricity, said people have “far more agency in the climate crisis than they think”.
“They don’t have to do anything except point the pension in a different direction. That’s an empowering message,” he said.
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