Disclaimer: information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice.
Did you know that for the average UK consumer HALF of their carbon emissions come from their pension, current & saving accounts? [1], [2]
That’s because the big banks and other financial institutions are funnelling billions of pounds into oil & gas projects.
In fact, our research suggests that putting £6,000 into Barclays is the equivalent of eating over 77 steaks per week, every week for a year [3].
Where we put our money is, arguably, the single most important choice we make when it comes to combating the climate crisis.
Why?
Because the companies we invest in today will thrive tomorrow.
And that’s why we built the world’s first money carbon calculator. So you know the impact of your money.
And it’s completely free to use.
It’s simple to use. You pop in the amount you have with your bank and we display your money carbon footprint. (Wondering how we calculate your footprint? We’ve added that at the end of this blog).
We also show you what you can do about it, offering you a choice of banks and pension providers that invest in low carbon activities.
Surprisingly, switching your bank is often easier than giving up a flight or cutting out the meat.
It takes 2 minutes to find your money's carbon footprint. And whether you decide to dip a toe in the water and switch £1 or you choose to switch the whole account, MotherTree supports you every step of the way.
Our banks are all FSCS protected, which means your money is protected up to £85,000.
And what’s more, our research suggests you don’t have to sacrifice returns by going green. So you can save the planet and, potentially, grow your returns.
That’s where it gets really interesting.
Choosing a greener bank and pension provider does not have to be at the expense of your returns.
For banks, interest rates have remained flat, which means whether you are with Barclays or Triodos, the amount you earn doesn’t differ.
For pensions, in a large number of cases over the past 5 years, the green funds actually outperformed the standard fund. This means you can save the planet and save the money in your wallet.
So give it a try. You never know, it might just be the most significant change you make to address the climate crisis.
--
So how does MotherTree calculate my money’s carbon footprint?
Your money's carbon footprint is based on two figures:
The indicative size of your contribution to the provider (X). This is the amount you have invested with a provider as a proportion of their total assets for the previous year. For example, if you had £1,000 in a current account with HSBC, your proportion of their assets would be £1,000 divided by £767,773m (HSBC's total assets).
The provider's carbon footprint (Y). This is calculated using publicly available data such as annual reports and data from the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF).
We then multiply the two together:
X × Y = your money's carbon footprint.
--
[1] Based on having £6,757 in a current account with Barclays and a pension of £42,651 held invested in the UK Equity Fund over 25 years. Note, in 2020, the average person in the United Kingdom (UK) had £6,757 saved (source: https://www.finder.com/uk/saving-statistics. Analysis conducted by finder.com/uk). Note, The UK’s average pension pot stands at just £42,651 (source: https://www.finder.com/uk/pension-statistics. Analysis conducted by finder.com).
[2] Based on analysis by Accenture: The average UK household's spending generated 204 kg of CO2 emissions each week. This equates to 10,617 kg per household per year, which collectively amounts to an estimated 295 million tonnes of CO2 in 2020. Note, this does not include any investment, bank account or pension.
[3] Where one serving is 85g. Calculated using https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/meat-footprint.