Where you bank is not climate neutral.
Switching banks could be the most impactful thing you can do to fight climate change.
The bank where we choose to keep our cash is often the largest single contributor to our carbon footprint when compared to any other metric, including our miles driven or flown, energy usage and diet.
Consider this: on average, $24 of every $100 dollars that Wall Street’s largest banks lend out are repurposed to finance fossil fuels.
Use the calculator below to measure the carbon footprint of your current banking. Then use the calculator to test how the carbon footprint of your finances would change if you switched to a greener bank.
Estimate your emissions savings from moving some or all of your money to a green bank and compare the magnitude of those savings to their emissions equivalents from other common energy-intensive activities (e.g driving, flying, powering a building, etc.)
Most clients of big banks can reduce their individual carbon footprints by 60-70%, and some by 90% or more, by moving their money away from Wall Street banks to greener ones.
If you can measure the emissions from your cash you can start to manage them.
Tell your bank that you want to align your money with your values and are thinking about moving your money because of their insufficient climate action. Post on social media or write a private letter to your bank(s) and let them know that you are concerned by their climate inaction.
This tool was funded by the Park Foundation and members of the Rockefeller Family.
It is a collaboration between BankFWD, GreenPortfolio, TOPO, She Wolf Consulting, Springloop, Adversarial Systems, and Silmi Jariwalla.