This was the title of a special interest group, which took place during Ireland Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in April. Saving and investment decisions were discussed in the broader context of a world facing the triple crises of credit crunch, peak oil and climate change.
The following report was sent by Tony Weekes, Research Associate, Quaker Institute for the Future:
The theme and emphasis were taken from Quaker Faith and Practice 20.57, which asks us to “determine our choices as individuals and as a Society [concerning] the way in which savings are invested [and] to refuse to deal in products or services which are hurtful to individuals or to society as a whole”.
The theme was further informed by Peter Clery’s letter in The Friend (1 August 2008) reminding us that “The essentials for human life are water, food, housing, clothing and energy” and that we should seek to ensure that our saving and investment decisions are “put to positive good use”.
Just over a month after Peter Clery’s letter, the conventional banking system collapsed, adding a third crisis – the ‘credit crunch’ – to the other two: climate change and peak oil!
In a post to the triple crisis blog (www.triplecrisis.com, 8th March 2010), Gerhard Schick, quoting from a United Nations Development Programme report, Climate Change at UNDP – Scaling Up to Meet the Challenge, notes that “limiting global warming to less than 2° Celsius above the pre-industrial era is estimated to require about $250 billion a year” and that “we need to focus on the role of private finance in climate change. It is urgent that more private capital be channeled into financing sustainable technologies … in order to fight against climate change.”
This is a daunting challenge. While residents of Northern Ireland have access to a number of (sterling-based) ecologically sensitive financial services, there are far fewer available in the Irish Republic.
We have a long way to go.
We resolved that we should begin by focussing on our personal and on our Society’s use of financial services for banking and saving. We have in mind a more structured event, ideally during this year’s National Ethical Investment Week (see website www.neiw.org/neiw2010/get_involved for dates), which would be open both to Friends and to others who share our concern.
A keynote speaker will explain the issues in more detail, and we hope for some input from representatives of the institutions which provide the services we need. A step beyond this would be a guide – printed and web-based – explaining the issues and offering suggestions for personal follow-up and action.
For further information contact Tony Weekes at [email protected].