Four Easy Things Banks Can Do To Get Greener

You might be surprised to learn just how stubborn, obstinate, and bull-headed organisations built on capitalism can actually be. Far from the idea of ‘making the most money possible’ and the ‘best return on investment’, pretty much every banking organisation has its own set of biases, mad ideas and our favourite, traditional values. 

Banking traditional values usually entail burning things they find in the ground and destroying the lives of every single living organism on the planet. They’re not exactly what you might call a forward-thinking bunch of people, so they like to stick with what they know. Unfortunately, doing so is against all financial and moral sense, but at least coal makes pretty colours when you burn it. 

Luckily for banks, there’s an amazingly long list of low-hanging fruit which they could use to reduce emissions, both their own and globally, while contributing to sustainable banking practices. Some banks have taken some or all of these steps you’ll see here, but it’s the biggest and worst polluting banks we’ll be focusing on/complaining about in this article. 

Why would banks even bother? 

This is the question that bankers have probably been asking themselves over the last year. They’re making huge profits out of burning, pillaging and otherwise polluting the planet. Why spoil all of the fun and start making changes? 

Well, the point is, as we’ll see, that some banks have already started to make the change. Over the last decade, public opinion about fossil fuels has begun to turn negative. People are far more likely to buy sustainable products, invest in renewable energy for their homes and support sustainable businesses.  

Banks survive on our money. They survive on the interest they make on your savings and the investments they choose to fund with your money. If people start getting all misty eyed over the environment, why, then banks might start to lose money. Banks will eventually do what we want them to, or they’ll simply go out of business. 

1.The Energy Efficiency Mortgage 

As we know, banks love the colour green. It brings out their shining personalities, their infinite love affair with Earth Day posts, (we’re so proud of you HSBC) and often prefaces some of their more outrageous claims.  

Banks love this colour so much that some of them have begun to offer green banking products and services. What are they? Well, it’s good of you to ask, and you can read all about them right here. 

One particular product we’d like banks to offer is an Energy Efficient Mortgage. These mortgages lend buyers more than 100% of the value of their home, allowing you to install energy efficiency upgrades, like insulation, heat pumps and solar panels. It saves you money in the long run and hopefully means you won’t need any other home loans in the future. 

We don’t know why they’re not all doing this already. After all, the bigger the mortgage the more return they get on it. Offering large amounts of money to people should be something a bank is pretty familiar with. 

We should mention, of course, that any and all green banking products are a good thing. If you can save money and help the environment, then you should absolutely use them and shop around for the very best. 

2. The Energy Audit 

Banks require lots of information before they give you a mortgage. Job security, savings, deposit, marital status, basically anything they can think of. What we’d like them to think of are Energy Audits. 

Home energy audits have become all the rage in the last decade. More and more governments are committed to building A+ rated energy efficient homes as part of their climate strategy. This is a really good thing. Building a house is extremely energy intensive, with large amounts of potentially polluting construction and material going into the building.  Energy audits, which can have a different name in nearly every country, make sure houses are built to a required standard, reducing your costs down the line. 

In years past, houses weren’t built with the environment in mind. They really weren’t built with people in mind either, what with poor insulation, draughts, damp and the house falling to pieces. 

A required energy audit for new-house buyers would be a simple thing to require for a mortgage and help buyers get better homes. Banks could offer incentives, find trusted vendors and make an entire industry out of it. 

Sounds good to us. 

3. The CDP Sustainable Finance and Bank Programme 

As organisations keen on making money, banks love a good advertisement. They love to show us how great they all are, what with the 700 pictures of solar panels and smiling families on their websites. We sit through countless Lloyds, Santander and HSBC ads every day. They tell us they’re green, working hard towards a sustainable future and looking ahead to a brighter age. 

What they can’t really be bothered to do, however, is fill out a simple form which might take an hour or so.  

The Carbon Disclosure Project's Sustainable Finance and Bank Programme offers banks a chance at real transparency when it comes to their climate impact. A simple form dedicated to collecting information on every part of the business that emits climate polluting fossil fuels. It’s available to absolutely anyone, you can sign up right now and see which banks have filled it out. 

Does it take long? No. Is it complicated? No.  

Could an intern do it? 

Probably. 

We couldn’t think of an easier thing for banks to do. 

4. Stop Hiring the Enemy 

Banks and bankers are determined to inform you that you’re simply wrong about all of this climate crisis business. Why, their profits are sky-high, and their shareholders have never been happier. Can’t you see that nice arrow pointing up beside all of those green numbers? If they were in the wrong surely it would be red. 

Banks have a very bad habit of greenwashing, or as we also call it, lying. They have an interesting tendency to hire public relations firms to distract and deflect negative attention. They even hire lobbyists who lobby on behalf of the fossil fuels industry, a situation which would confuse anyone. Net-Zero, you say? Never heard of it. 

The words you’re looking for are ‘conflict of interest’. Banks are hiring people who lobby against climate regulations and environmental protections, while pushing for new fossil fuel projects and investments. Obviously, this was not a great idea. 

How could they possibly reverse this unbelievably complicated situation? 

Maybe they could hire.... different lobbyists. 

The Endgame: Divesting from Fossil Fuels 

These are some of the easiest and least complicated solutions a bank can take to become a little bit greener around the edge. They’ll have a big impact and could probably be done by anyone, as long as they’re willing to take the ‘risk’. So, if you’re working in a bank, feel free to say you came up with these ideas on your own and take all the credit. 

We’d love to have included divesting from the fossil fuel industries in this list. Unfortunately, it’s a little bit more complicated than you might think. Banks tend to be a bit like spiders, in the way that their investments spin a very entangled, and sometimes confusing web. Investments can be locked in, money hidden behind the couch and legally, it can make it a bit of a headache for banks, or any institution to quickly divest from fossil fuels. 

Divesting from fossil fuels is the best option however, even if it takes a while. Universities, businesses and pension funds have all been put under pressure and divested already which shows it can be done. 

All we need to do is keep the pressure on.