DivestInvest for Individuals

Through DivestInvest, each us can do what we can, with what we have, to stop climate change and protect our finances.

Bank Accounts

  • You can switch your bank account to a provider which doesn’t invest in fossil fuels. Most countries have institutions that don’t invest in fossil fuels and offer current accounts, savings and loans accounts.
  • Look out for ‘ethical banks’, ‘building societies’, or ‘credit unions’.

 

Bank Accounts Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) , UK

Personal Investments

If you manage your own investments:

  • Decide your criteria for excluding or including companies. The DivestInvest pledge is the top 200 largest oil, gas and coal companies by reserves.
  • Assess where your investments are currently. There are several tools available to check this such as fossilfreefunds.org.
  • It’s also a good idea to look at the fund policies to ensure they won’t invest in fossil fuels in the future.
  • Sell any shares that fail to meet your criteria, and switch to ones that do.

If you have a fund manager:

  • Ask the fund manager to select funds or securities that meet your exclusion and inclusion criteria.
  • Ask them how they incorporate climate risk into their investment process.
  • If they are unable or unwilling to respond adequately, consider switching managers.

 

Personal Investments Children walking to a nearby river to get water in Lao PDR. Image: Asian Development Bank

Pensions and retirement savings

  • The structure of retirement savings can vary, so there is no single process to follow.
  • If you’re employer or private pension provider manages it, work with them to go through the steps for organizations wanting to DivestInvest.
  • A key step is to ask them to offer a fund which meets your investment criteria.

 

Pensions and retirement savings Photo by NCVO London (CC BY 2.0)

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