Time To Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Some say that money makes the world go around.
If such and such is true then what can we do, I wonder, to make our journey enjoyable?
We all know the American Dream of a journey, filled with laughter, love and smiles, the sort you see on holiday cruise adverts. How do we make our journey through life - day to day - just as satisfying?
If you read last week's blog, you may be able to recollect how Bhutan has put it's people's welfare and environment at the forefront of all its policies. In this way, a place is created for people to achieve happiness. Complete satisfaction that is.
Today, going off on a tangent from last week, I'm blogging about banks and building societies. In the developed world, we seem to put heavy emphasis on $, £ and €. It's unlikely that our core driver will ever steer away from money so, in accepting this we ask, how can money provide us with sustainable happiness?
In a society that sits on the hands of the exchange rate, we rely on these companies and their regulations to watch of over our hard-earned cash but, how does the bank itself make money?
To keep the beating heart of a bank or building society alive, interest is charged on the loans we take out. From this, they are able to offer more loans elsewhere resulting in a continuous and interlinked cycle of growth.
I'm sure many of you know about this and, hopefully, are careful with your money. It's worth saying that I'm not going to advise you when to open an account or take a loan; I'm here to ask you to look at where you invest.
You'll probably be told you shouldn't take money advice from a teenager - people that say this may well be right! - Before you close this tab though, let me show you this:
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An area of rainforest destruction, previously identified as containing High Carbon Stock, in West Kalimantan after IOI received a palm oil concession on this land.
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A Greenpeace 2017 publication revealed how HSBC is linked to these companies of environmental destruction
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If the pictures aren't too blurry (if they are, click this link and scroll to pages 26-27) you should be able to spot a connection between the two photos. Perhaps there are some names here that ring a bell with you.
A Greenpeace investigation earlier this year revealed to us how IOI, a palm oil plantation company, has not been living up to it's sustainable certificate. As well as the unfortunate legal concessions that allow deforestation and development on peatland, IOI also undertook some illegal operations purely for profits.
Amongst this news, it was found that IOI was just 1 of 4 palm oil plantation companies receiving funding from HSBC - one of the largest banks in the world.
A bank who prides itself in being named 'World's best bank.'
A bank whose adverts talk about family and hope.
A bank whose name is on your credit card.
It's only fair I mention that several other banks were found to have been funding IOI too, including DBS and Standard Chartered. However, HSBC has over 37 million worldwide customers and is headquartered in the UK - I feel a strong sense of shameful association with this company and the actions that have been linked to it. Albeit there are also positive loans that people have been able to structure a business on but, I can't shake away this bitterness. HSBC can know the ins and outs of the exchange rate, my personal details and the tricks of the trade and yet they can't protect life as we know it.
The issue now is what to do with this information.
We've learnt that a bank is dealing with dodgy business. Business that threatens the sustainability, the cleanliness and the happiness of our planet so what can we do about it?
The good news is, it's relatively easy!
WWF has a link on it's website to moveyourmoney.org.uk, where a scorecard has been made comparing financial institutions based on their ethics. This way you can see, physically see, who is the most forward-looking, sustainable and honest bank. Not only that, their criteria has also been measuring aspects such as customer satisfaction and the comparative number of women to men in the company. As much as I go on about protecting the environment, these other factors equally play a key role in creating a sustainable, fair and happy society.
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The Move Your Money ethical scorecard
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Your decision will affect the future of our planet - yet there's no pressure upon you to campaign or any real hassle in switching. It's your money and you get to decide where it goes. You now get to choose what bank you want to associate yourself with. Your money can create sustainable happiness.
You, right now, you're on a journey, right now, and you have a choice.
Is everyone around you on board a smooth-sailing ship? Or, are you headed for a bumpy ride?
The answer is still fuzzy.
At the moment, we still have this choice but it's likely our children will not. The approaching path for us and them is still undecided, luckily, despite the clock ticking away.
We don't have long to secure a bright future. For us, for them, for the whole world and all its glory. Are we going to fund sustainable actions through our banks or is our apathy going to culminate in a life of regret? The choice is ours. The choice is yours.
So what do you say?
Are you in?
H _ M
:)
Bibliography:
http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/bank4.htm
http://moveyourmoney.org.uk/scorecard-explained/
https://www.wwf.org.uk/node/34336
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/money/bankingcurrentaccounts.aspx
https://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#country:United%20Kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC#Controversies
http://www.hsbc.com/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/forests/2017/Greenpeace_DirtyBankers_final.pdf
https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21565622-new-investigation-accuses-hsbc-ignoring-its-own-sustainability-policies-log
https://www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/HSBC-logging-briefing-FINAL-WEB.pdf
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