London Climate Action Week event at FCJ Centre for Spirituality & EcoJustice

LCAW panel - Image: John Walsh

On Tuesday 24 June, Laudato Si' Movement, JustMoney Movement and Stand.earth organised a London Climate Action Week event, hosted by the FCJ Centre for Spirituality and EcoJustice near Euston.

The event was entitled Faith Leadership for Our Common Home: Laudato Si' and the Global Movement for Fossil Free Finance. It highlighted the leading role of faith groups in the global divestment movement and in speaking out on big banks' fossil fuel financing, given the harmful environmental and human rights impacts of such projects on many of the world's poorest communities.

Sr Susan Francois, CSJP, Assistant Congregation Leader and Treasurer of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace, shared more on the ethical investment journey of her congregation. She outlined how the UK congregation divested from fossil fuels in 2018, followed by the US congregation in 2022. Her congregation has challenged major banks including Citigroup and Barclays on their fossil financing and impacts on indigenous rights, securing media coverage in the Financial Times and Independent, among others. They have also been making impact investments, including in renewable energy.

Dr Lorna Gold, Executive Director of Laudato Si' Movement, spoke about the crucial role of faith groups taking action ahead of COP30 in Brazil later this year. She shared how the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference and Ireland's national investment fund divested from fossil fuels in 2018. Around the world, 370+ Catholic institutions have now divested, but there is much further to go.

Martyna Dominiak, Senior Climate Finance Campaigner at Stand.earth, highlighted the role of banks in Europe and Latin America in financing oil and gas projects in the Amazon. Among the biggest financiers of Amazon oil and gas are Santander (one of the biggest banks on the UK high street) and several other Spanish and Latin American banks. Some banks have implemented strong exclusion policies on Amazon oil and gas; others now need to follow suit.

Matt Ceaser, Movement Builder at JustMoney Movement, spoke about the range of ways in which individuals and institutions can take action, including through the Bank Well campaign, a joint initiative with Just Love. He shared details of the Greener, Fairer Banking Guide, which outlines a range of ethical banking options for churches and charities, such as religious congregations.

Bokani Tshidzu, Campaign Officer at Operation Noah, shared about their work on investment in climate solutions, fossil fuel divestment (which has led to nearly all UK Churches divesting from fossil fuel companies) and the Big Bank Switch campaign.

Melanie Nazareth spoke about Christian Climate Action's campaign for Church of England cathedrals to switch banks, which has already led several cathedrals to move from fossil financing banks such as Barclays and HSBC to a fossil free bank.

Finally, James Buchanan spoke about Laudato Si' Movement's recent work with Bishop Gerardo Alminaza (Lead Bishop on Laudato Si' for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines), together with partners in Europe and the Philippines. During a visit to Europe last month, Bishop Alminaza raised concerns about banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Crédit Agricole financing fossil gas power plants and LNG terminals in the Verde Island Passage, one of the most marine biodiverse areas in the world.

Last week, the Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 report showed that the world's top 65 banks have financed fossil fuels by $7.9 trillion since the Paris Agreement. Big banks poured $869 billion into fossil fuels in 2024 alone, with two thirds of banks covered in the report increasing their fossil fuel financing from 2023 to 2024.

The International Energy Agency and UN have said that there can be no new fossil fuel developments if we are to have any chance of limiting global heating to 1.5°C and avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Last week, more than 60 of the world's leading climate scientists warned that at the current rate of emissions, the remaining carbon budget to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target would be used up within the next three years.

The majority of Catholic dioceses in England and Wales (15 out of 21) have divested from fossil fuel companies, but six dioceses continue to invest in fossil fuels. Eight out of 21 dioceses in England and Wales bank with HSBC.

Barclays and HSBC are the biggest fossil fuel financing banks in the UK. Barclays is one of the top 10 fossil financing banks globally, increasing its financing by $12.6 billion (more than 50%) in 2024, the hottest year ever recorded. HSBC also increased its fossil fuel financing in 2024.

The UK's big four banks - Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds - have all prohibited direct financing to fossil fuel expansion but none have restricted financing to companies with plans for fossil fuel expansion, allowing for significant continued financing to fossil fuel companies, as evidenced in the Banking on Climate Chaos report.

In November last year, over 70 Christian organisations - including 11 Catholic religious orders and charities, including SCIAF - published a Statement of Concern calling on the big five UK high street banks to end their financing of new fossil fuels.

Responding to the Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 report, Bishop Gerry Alminaza, Bishop of San Carlos and Lead Bishop on Laudato Si' for the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said: "Despite the 2015 Paris Agreement and the worsening climate emergency - already a harsh reality for us in the Global South - many financial institutions, as this report reveals, continue to fund fossil fuel companies. By doing so, they bear direct responsibility for the growing loss of human lives, livelihoods and biodiversity in our region.

"We have witnessed this in the devastating impact on the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines and the Coral Triangle in Southeast Asia - areas vital to both local communities and ecological balance.

"It is painfully clear: profit is still being placed above people and planet. Have we lost our sense of shared humanity and our universal responsibility to care for one another. Have we forgotten that we are deeply interconnected and that the suffering of one ultimately affects us all?"

Key learnings from Tuesday's event included the imperative to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth, the importance of raising awareness of banks' fossil fuel financing in our dioceses, congregations and communities, and the need to increase pressure on big UK high street banks to stop funding new fossil fuel projects that are exacerbating the climate crisis.

Participants were invited to make a pledge to switch to a greener bank through the Big Bank Switch, which is being supported by Laudato Si' Movement, JustMoney Movement, Operation Noah and Just Love. If you have already made the switch to a greener bank, you can make a powerful impact by registering your bank switch retrospectively on the JustMoney Movement website and sharing the campaign with others.

This event was a celebration of the global movement of faith groups caring for our Common Home and accelerating a fair and fast transition to renewable energy. It encouraged Catholic institutions and individuals to join the global movement, by divesting from fossil fuel companies and switching to fossil free banks that are financing the brighter, fairer future we wish to see.

LINKS

Join the Big Bank Switch: https://justmoney.org.uk/the-big-bank-switch/

Filipino Bishop: Stop Financing Fossil Fuels: https://laudatosimovement.org/news/filipino-bishop-stop-financing-fossil-fuels/

JustMoney Movement's Greener, Fairer Banking Guide for churches and charities: https://justmoney.org.uk/resources/new-greener-fairer-banking-guide/

Operation Noah: Church divestment table showing progress among Catholic dioceses in England & Wales: www.operationnoah.org/bright-now-campaign/church-divestment/

Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 report: www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/

SEC clears investor nuns to file Indigenous rights resolution against Citigroup: www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/justice/social-justice/sec-clears-investor-nuns-file-indigenous-rights-resolution-against

Big four UK banks: Falling short on climate action? www.banktrack.org/article/big_four_uk_banks_falling_short_on_climate_action

Three years left to limit warming to 1.5C, leading scientists warn: www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4l927dj5zo