Case study: ‘Activism’ is not a dirty word
As part of the publication of the brand new Catalysing Bank Climate Action: Lessons from the Inside report, we share key insights, lessons and anonymised case studies in this blog series. We invited The Sunrise Project, a global campaigning organisation working to hasten the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, to speak to Fellows on the programme.
Here, Areeba Hamid (Global Finance Programme Director) and Beau O’Sullivan (Senior Communications Officer) share some of their reflections on how climate intrapreneurs and campaigners can accelerate the transition to climate safe banking together.
What did you take away from engaging with intrapreneurs on the Fellowship?
It’s very easy to get lost in the ‘us versus them’ frame, and forget that [bankers] also are human beings with values and have motivations and risk appetites. And all their decisions are based on those factors, like anybody else. So, I think that was quite useful to just break that barrier and speak to the people we are trying to change. It was also quite sobering to hear first-hand that there is still a wide gulf between the level of change that’s needed, and what the Fellows saw as things that can be done by decision-makers internally.
What is The Sunrise Project learning from its work with banks?
“The history of progress is the history of activism in the world”
Following our session with Fellows, we were invited by two Fellows to engage directly with senior leaders in their organisations. Through these conversations, we realised that we have a lot of experience and knowledge that we can impart to those working inside banks, and that these engagements can be very useful. At the same time, there is still a lot of greenwashing in the banking industry – and we play a crucial role in challenging and holding banks accountable. How do we tread that line of being helpful at the same time as holding them accountable? Walking this tightrope is difficult and tense.
Part of our role is to work behind the scenes and support other partners. In our work with media for instance, we help educate journalists about AGM season, how to interpret shareholder resolution results, the types of loopholes in banks’ climate policies, and how to spot good policies announced by banks, etc. Before COP26, we published a short media briefing on how to spot greenwashing by banks which was very successful in framing lots of coverage in the media.
What do you want climate intrapreneurs to know?
A lot of people think that you have no credibility as an activist. This is not true. We have spent hours and hours churning data, learning the Bloomberg terminal, and following the money. And we know how policies with climate risk are developed. Some of the activists we know are the most well-versed people in finance. It’s a mistake to ignore them.
I think that activism is not a dirty word. The history of progress is the history of activism in the world. Activism is about standing up for what you believe in. I’m genuinely interested in hearing about the barriers faced by Sustainability Officers to moving faster and being more ambitious on climate. If banks were more open about barriers and spoke to us, we’d probably be able to find solutions or help in some way. There is also more scope for public policy and government relations teams within banks to step up in their role and act as an activist within. We are keen to work with intrapreneurs to turn up the dial internally – we can do this anonymously, including penning letters to the board or engaging the media.
It’s a leadership challenge. What’s missing are the voices of the leaders. I would love to see leaders of banks break away from the pack. Of course, there are risks with being the first-mover, but that’s what leadership looks like.