Breaking the Bank is wrapping up after two fantastic years of student campaigning on fossil finance and big banks. We successfully made fossil finance a priority issue for students and universities, taking it from a nearly unheard-of topic to one of the biggest issues for universities today, with our momentum and success covered in the Financial Times’ The Banker.
We trained over 130 students from more than 30 universities over a series of workshops and events on fossil fuel funding, ethical finance, and campaigning. Campaign groups at 15 universities took on banks, the biggest fossil fuel funders, pressuring them to stop the flow of money into the industry responsible for the climate emergency. We ran a successful Barclays Careers Boycott, and have educated and supported students to act on both fossil fuels and arms financing as two inextricably linked and destructive industries, fostering solidarity between climate and Palestine activists on campuses. We’ve pushed universities to cut ties with Barclays, and ran 16 actions disrupting business as usual for big banks, countering their greenwashing and calling out their destructive funding practices. We've been a part of a wider fossil finance coalition pushing pressure on banks, leading to Barclays changing their policies.
Breaking the Bank campaign resources are available on our SOS-UK page, including leaflet and flyer template designs for you to use for your campaign in the Legacy section. New finance campaigns and other resources will be shared here as well as on the Breaking the Bank Instagram and X/Twitter account.
Thank you to all the brilliant students, staff, campaigners, organisations, and anyone else who has been involved with Breaking the Bank, and continue to take action on the fossil fuel industry and its enablers. We're proud of fossil finance and climate campaigners working in solidarity with Palestine campaigns and recognising the inextricable links between the climate emergency and the impact of oppressive systems. Fossil fuels and arms are the two most destructive industries on our planet - and banks and other financial institutions are enabling both. It's been amazing to be a part of this movement and we have such hope for the future because of your incredible actions.
Want to get involved with fossil finance campaigning? Your first stop is Defund Climate Chaos - the UK’s leading campaign of the fossil finance movement, taking action on the banks, investors and insurers upholding the fossil fuel industry. Join DCC here.
At SOS-UK, we’re still running Invest for Change, our campaign to radically reform how universities invest their money. IfC is going from strength to strength and is in its 5th year. Get involved by contacting hello@sos-uk.org with the subject line “Invest for Change”.
Keep an eye on SOS socials for a new insurance campaign - Instagram and X.
