Treasurer's note

Can money ever be ethical and green?

At a moment when we are all preoccupied, to say the least, with the challenges of stretching money to cope with steeply rising costs, there is a rebranding going on in the charity sector to strengthen the focus on 'good' money.

The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility is now the more approachable-sounding JustMoney Movement, justmoney.org.uk. Its mission is to draw Christians and churches together as part of a broader movement to connect faith and money, equipping people to make changes with their own money and to speak out for changes in the way banks, businesses and the tax system operate in pursuit of a fairer, greener world. We would surely agree with them that in these difficult times such a movement is more needed than ever.

Do take a look at the website: it includes resources about banking and pensions and the connections between money and the environmental crisis – how to choose a more ethical bank, how to be a more ethical consumer and more.

As JustMoney points out:

“a church community of 40 households has a collective ‘spending’ power of £1 million every year to shape a fairer, greener world (based on an average household income of £25,000). Together, we can have an impact.”

If anyone thinks it a good idea, I will keep an eye on the website and share some more detailed material in future newsletters. Our church banks with one of the “more ethical” banks, I am pleased to say, and our electricity supplier has a fairly good proportion of renewables in its mix. A start, at least!

With love and best wishes,

Gaynor Humphreys

gaynor@eandghumphreys.plus.com

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