From High Street Banks To Mighty Rivers
23rd April, 2009 - Posted by Helen Harrison -
Yesterday in the Guardian newspaper there was an article about the threat that climate change is posing to the mightiest rivers of the world, including the Niger, the Ganges and the Yellow River. The article went to say that the impact on the rivers could threaten food and water supplies ‘to millions of people living in some of the worlds poorest regions’.
Our Rivers Are Being Damaged
Today, in the mail, I received the latest copy of the Ethical Consumer magazine, a monthly publication that looks at the ethical background to producers of goods and services. It makes for a very interesting read, although doesn’t make shopping easy! This month has a special feature on banks and building societies, and as I was browsing through I noticed a comment about how some of the banks (and I won’t do a name and shame here, but happy to pass on info if you want it) are investing our money in projects that are effectively speeding up climate change due to the quantity of their carbon emissions, nature of output etc. Tie these two articles together, and it is easy to see how what we do in our own daily lives can affect people all over the world. Some of the actions are ones we know about, but even the issues of who we bank with, and where we shop can have wide-reaching implications and it is invariably the poorest who suffer most, as they have fewest reserves to fall back on. And the irony of that is that they are also the ones who are least likely to be investing in banks or doing any shopping, and so are doing least damage to the world, but suffering most from the consequences.
Hmmmm, doesn’t seem quite right, does it?
1 Comment
Matt Singley
April 24th, 2009 at 9:03 am
No, it doesn’t seem right. It’s amazing how actions that we don’t necessarily think about all that often have grave, global impacts.
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