On the go: Making a pension “green” is more effective than going vegan, stopping flying, and switching to a renewable energy provider combined, according to new research.
The study by campaign group Make My Money Matter, alongside Aviva and Route2, found that making a pension green is the “single most effective action an individual can take to reduce their carbon footprint”, saving as much as 19 tonnes of carbon a year.
It estimated that making a pension green is 57 times more effective than going vegan, while those with pots of at least £100,000 could save as much as 64 tonnes of carbon, which the study notes is nine years’ worth of the average UK citizen’s carbon footprint.
The study calculates that making a pension greener is 21 times more effective than going vegan, stopping flying and switching to a renewable energy provider combined.
Richard Curtis, film director and co-founder of Make My Money Matter said: “We have taken real collective steps in our society to become greener in our day-to-day lives. However, I helped create Make My Money Matter after being alerted to the fact that our pensions could be undoing all of our hard work without us even knowing.
“These findings confirm just how important our money is in the fight against climate change. In fact, our pensions are the most powerful weapon we have to help protect the planet.”
Curtis continued: “We need the entire UK pensions industry to go green — making their default funds more sustainable so all savers can have a pension to be proud of.
“As individuals, we have a critical role to play in driving this change by showing providers that we want our money invested in a way that does good, not harm, so that we can retire into a world that isn’t on fire.”
Make My Money Matter is issuing “the 21x challenge” to encourage savers to ask their providers to go green and commit to net-zero.
Rob Barker, managing director of UK savings and retirement at Aviva, added: “Pension savings have incredible potential for contributing towards climate goals. We’re excited to be working with Make My Money Matter to ensure people have a better understanding of how their pension can be used to create a better future.”
Nick Robins, professor at the London School of Economics, said that shifting investment “is an important way of sending signals to companies to accelerate action to support the net-zero transition”.
He said: “Shareholder engagement is another strategy, and the use of this tool can act to draw out how individual savers ensure that their pensions provide a lever for climate action.”
