where does your money go?

national | consumer issues | opinion/analysis Tuesday March 06, 2007 16:17 by useless eater

Most readers and contributors to Indymedia, I presume, would be against the arms trade and money going towards 'third-world' exploitation, deforestation, or animal testing for eg., yet every one of us contributes to these decidely unethical practices.

The reason is of course, that most people have bank accounts, if not pensions or investments. Our money doesn't just fester in bank vaults - it is invested and reinvested to get the maximum return (which frequently means nasty investments).

Hence the need for SRI or Socially Responsible Investing, which many believe started with the Quakers in the 18th c. when it was decided at the Society of Friends' annual meeting to prohibit members from buying or selling in humans. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church outlined some basic aspects of SRI incl. not to harm your neighbour through business practices and to avoid industries like tanning and chemical production that pollute rivers.

Nowadays, people associate ethical/ socially responsible investments with: equal opportunities, animal welfare, organic/fair trade producers, public transport etc. No nos include land/ human rights abuse, oil companies, pesticides, gambling, water pollution etc.
Despite such 'Ethical Investment Banks' becoming increasingly popular overseas, the nearest thing we have is the Credit Union (which is good in some respects but doesn't go far enough) As far as I know, not much account is taken of how ethically money can be invested (apart from some community development projects)

There are of course differing standards of what constitutes 'Socially Responsible Investing' and some so called 'ethical investments' are questionable, but such banks are no doubt a step in the right direction.

So start lobbying! Go to your next Credit Union AGM (usually December I think) and bring up this issue.
Write to your bank and ask them where they stand on ethical investing (for sure no large bank in IRL has even considered it!)