CHRISTIAN campaigners are planning a series of prayer vigils to urge cathedrals to move their business to banks that don’t invest in fossil fuels.
Several have recently committed themselves to such a change. Worcester, Durham, Truro, and Southwark are the latest. They join Sheffield, Chelmsford, and Derby, which either bank with other providers or are in the process of moving their business.
The Dean of Worcester, the Very Revd Stephen Edwards, said this week: “In 2021, Worcester Cathedral, like many organisations, declared a climate emergency. This, together with our journey through the Eco Church programme, has focused on the wider implications of the climate crisis and how we can make a difference across the cathedral’s activity.
“We began exploring alternative banking arrangements last year, and are working to seek the best ethical and sustainable approach to financial processes. In doing so, we live out our values as a Christian organisation proclaiming the Kingdom of God.”
On Facebook, Dean Edwards thanked Christian Climate Action (CCA) for campaigning for this. CCA will be holding vigils at cathedrals across the UK, starting on the Second Sunday of Lent, to urge cathedral finance departments to switch from one of the big five banks: Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest, and Lloyds.
The Revd Mark Coleman, a retired vicar from Rochdale and a supporter of Christian Climate Action, said: “Fossil-fuel companies might be the ones extracting and burning fossil fuels, but it’s the big five banks making that financially possible. . . As Christians, we are called to speak up for the poor and against the powers causing oppression. So, let’s do that, speak up for those on the front lines of the climate crisis, drop the banks that are funding systematic suffering, and reward the ones that are doing the right thing.”
Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, the world’s 60 largest banks have provided $6.9 trillion in financial commitments to the fossil-fuel industry. Of this, $673 billion was in 2023.
The director of movement-building at the JustMoney Movement, Rosie Venner, said: “Many big banks continue to finance sectors that are fuelling the climate crisis and are not moving swiftly enough to invest in solutions like renewable energy. At JustMoney Movement, we support a range of churches and Christian organisations to consider their finances as part of how they care for creation, and we are encouraged to see more Cathedrals taking such action with their finances.”
Joe Ware is Senior Climate Journalist at Christian Aid.
