The Co-Operative Bank and Make My Money Matter want to show consumers the power of their money

The first question David Hayman asks new people he meets is if they know where their pension money is held. Most say they don’t. If you’re reading this in the U.K., you might be surprised to learn that yours is most likely invested in fossil fuels, tobacco or arms. In the U.S., just 14 public pension funds inject $82 billion each year into coal, oil and gas.

Hayman is campaign director at Make My Money Matter, a movement started by Richard Curtis—better known as the co-founder of Comic Relief U.K. and director of films like Love Actually.

The nonprofit wants to bring more transparency to pension schemes across the world. It’s currently on a mission to educate people about what exactly their pension funds and encourage switching to providers that don’t fund deforestation among other things.

At the same time, it hopes to pressure big financial institutions to adopt more sustainable investment practices of their own.

“There’s an enormous gap between where the $3 trillion of U.K. pension payments are invested every year on people’s behalf goes, versus the lifestyle actions we make every day around the climate and the planet,” Hayman explained during a talk at Adweek’s recent Brandweek Europe event.

“We’re trying to help people understand the impact of their money and help them make positive financial decisions for the good of themselves and the good of the planet,” he added.

A marketing problem
In the U.K, the five of the most prominent high street banks funneled $141 billion to the 50 companies at the forefront of oil and gas expansion between 2016 and 2021.

More recently, HSBC was censured by watchdog Advertising Standards Authority ASA for “misleading” customers over green initiatives. The bank’s promotions around carbon offsetting, which ran during Cop26, didn’t add up, according to the organization. By the bank’s own admission, emissions related to clients it financially backed in 2021 stood at the equivalent of around 65.3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year for oil and gas alone.

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