How to find a bank that doesn't invest in fossil fuels

Could your bank account be one of your biggest climate superpowers?

Most people never think to check who their bank lends to or invests in, but switching to a fossil-free bank is ranked as the highest-impact climate action you can take with your money in the SHIFT guide.

In this episode, host Kim talks to Matt, a First Direct/HSBC customer in the UK, who discovers his bank's fossil fuel financing for the first time, live, on the call, and what he found when he compared fossil-free alternatives.

They cover why banking matters so much more than most people realize, how to check your own bank's fossil funding score, and the practical steps for switching to a climate-friendly bank without losing your direct debits, your mortgage payments or missing any bills.

To find out more about whether your bank funds fossil fuels or if you'd like to switch: see SHIFT.

Subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts to catch every episode.

For more information and material from the episode, visit climateactually.com.

Funding for Climate Actually comes from Formas, the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development, Communications Grant #2021-02906

Resources

Banking on climate chaos

Bank.green

Kim’s Substack: Break up with your mega-bank

Fair Finance Guide

Ethical Consumer, template to tell your bank why you left

Kim’s letter to Bank of America on why she closed her account there.

UK Current Account Switch Service

References cited in this episode

Switching to a fossil-free bank is the highest-impact investor action in SHIFT: Kim Nicholas and Project Drawdown, The Super High-Impact Initiative for Fixing Tomorrow (SHIFT) "Bank fossil-free" action page.

Source: SHIFT

World's 65 largest banks committed $906 billion to fossil fuel financing in 2025, an 8% increase on 2024.

Source: Banking on Climate Chaos

87% of that financing flows through six financial centres (US, Canada, Japan, China, UK, EU): Banking on Climate Chaos.

Source: Banking on Climate Chaos

HSBC has committed $77.8 billion to fossil fuel financing since 2021, ranking 21st among global bank funders.

Source: Banking on Climate Chaos

HSBC financing since 2021 includes Saudi Aramco ($1.8bn), ExxonMobil ($1.5bn) and TransCanada Pipelines ($1.5bn): Banking on Climate Chaos.

Source: Banking on Climate Chaos

Switching to a fossil-free bank is more effective in countries that have better regulation: Theodor F Cojoianu et al. Journal of Economic Geography, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 141–164.

Source: Journal of Economic Geography

When banks stopped funding coal mines, those coal mines actually shut down instead of finding new funding, measurably reducing emissions.

Source: Harvard Business School

So I wrote them a letter: Kim’s letter to Bank of America.

Source: Kimberly Nicholas

Templates you can use to let your bank know that customers don't want them investing in fossil fuels.

Source: Ethical Consumer

Carbon lock-in, three reasons why we still have a fossil-fuel-dependent world: infrastructure, policies, and norms and culture that reinforce those.

Source: Annual Reviews