Lily Cole has backed calls for UK banks to “radically transform” and take the climate emergency much more seriously.
The actor, model and activist is the latest high-profile name to emerge as a customer of the ethical bank Triodos, which has a current account which can be managed online and via a mobile app. Other famous customers include the actors James Norton and Sir Mark Rylance.
Cole says: “I’ve long believed in voting with your wallet for the change you want to see in the world – for example, supporting Fairtrade and organic food and fashion. Yet there are other subtle and powerful ways that our money shapes the world, such as the investments made by our banks, pensions and the institutions we work with.”
She says as soon as Triodos offered a current account in the UK, “I immediately joined the bank, as I didn’t want to be accidentally investing in the arms trade and fossil fuel industry”.
Triodos says that according to the organisation BankTrack, the top UK banks have poured nearly £150bn into financing fossil fuels since the Paris agreement on climate change was adopted in late 2016.
It says banks should be using the money deposited with them in their customers’ long-term interests. “We want more people to know that switching banks is one of the most powerful environmental changes you can make as an individual… You can choose to prevent your money from financing arms, pesticides, plastic packaging or fossil fuels.”
Triodos’s current account comes with an eco-friendly contactless debit Mastercard overdraft of up to £2,000 is available, but there is a £3 monthly account fee.
