This week Andrew Bailey officially hit the halfway mark in his 8 year term as Governor of the Bank of England. Sadly so far, there hasn’t been much to celebrate. 

Despite winning a green mandate for the Bank back in 2021, Bailey has been dragging his feet on aligning the UK financial system with our climate goals. Just last month he told the House of Lords' Economic Affairs Committee that the Bank has ‘slimmed down’ its resources on climate change. After living through 2023 - the hottest year on record - it’s just not good enough John. [1]

So we organised over 50 leading economists and civil society voices to call on Bailey and the Bank to "take decisive action and re-prioritise climate work as a matter of urgency". [2]

With press coverage in The Mirror, The Independent, and The Standard. A big thanks to Greenpeace, WWF, ActionAid, economists Ann Pettifor and Jason Hickel, author George Monbiot, Julia Steinberger (to name just a few) and dozens more for signing! 💜 

Right now, our financial system is designed so that big banks and corporations can make huge profits by investing in fossil fuels. But the Bank of England has the power to change this. 

Combating the climate crisis sits squarely in the Governor of the Bank of England’s job description, because there is no financial stability on a burning planet. 

The Bank of England is publicly owned, that means it answers to us. At a time when so many of us are concerned about dangerous floods, deadly heatwaves, and soaring energy and food bills, it’s infuriating that money is still being funnelled into oil and gas projects that will only make climate change worse. 

We need the Bank to step up, and use its power to follow its democratically decided climate goals to transform our financial system. That’s the case we made in this letter, and it’s the case we’ll keep on making so that unlocking billions for a just and green transition remains a priority not just this week, but for the rest of Bailey’s term. 

Thanks for your support,

Hannah, Positive Money

Notes

[1] Positive Money: Big Win: new green mandate for the Bank of England 

Green Central Banking: BoE trims back work on climate change

Met Office: 2023: the warmest year on record globally 

[2] Positive Money: Over 50 experts tell Bank: push forward with climate work

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