Change Finance, Not The Climate

Stopping climate chaos calls for an overhaul of the financial system. Fossil fuel lending can be redirected towards green energy to protect people and the planet. Challenging the role of “big finance” will require political intervention rather than mere technical fixes. Public finance can take a lead by bankrolling a Green New Deal, placing democratic control and equitable access to common goods and services at the heart of investment.

This book presents progressive proposals to build a fair financial system that can respond to the climate crisis, assessing their potential impact, achievability and any associated drawbacks. Climate activists are presented with a variety of financial tools to power a just transition, including: green bonds for public investment in a Green New Deal; credit policies by central banks and financial regulators to increase fossil-free lending and cut the flow of finance to the worst polluters; the creation of green development banks with a clear climate and social mandate to prioritize public and local initiatives; reforming company boards and introducing corporate charters that offer a legal vehicle to hold companies to account for the pollution they cause; divestment from fossil fuels, targeting insurance companies underwriting the coal sector as a first priority; and the development of climate investment strategies by public pension funds.

There is an urgent need to reverse decades of austerity, which has stripped the state of much of its capacity to invest through debt financing and undermined the tax base. This allowed transnational corporations and a growing billionaire class to shift their profits and wealth beyond the reach of tax authorities. Reversing these trends, and shifting power back to democratically accountable public enterprises, will be key to move rapidly towards a fossil-free world.