ANDREW has called in Parliament for environmental controls on bank investments on the eve of the Copenhagen Climate Conference. 

Warning that climate change is the biggest global danger we face, he said in a recent Queen’s Speech debate that it is vital for banks to show environmental responsibility in order to avoid “global catastrophe.”    

Andrew has been pressing for a Copenhagen deal with effective action to combat climate change.  He said: “It is vital we secure firm commitments to combat this huge threat, and that we find ways to ensure poor countries – and poorer people in this country - do not pay the price of climate change.  No sector should be exempt from this responsibility, which is why I have pressed in Parliament for banks to be held environmentally accountable for their investments.”

Calling on the Government to address the lending policies of banks sustained by public funds, Andrew stressed in his speech “the importance of environmental sustainability and responsibility in bank regulation.”  He highlighted the problem of banks financing oil exploitation in conflict regions in Africa and south Asia, drilling in untouched areas of the Arctic, and open-cast mining.   

He said: “We need to question very seriously whether, at a time when we rightly voice the priority that must be given to combating climate change, those are the investment priorities that public funds should be underwriting.” 

In his speech, Andrew argued that banks using public money should be made to follow good environmental and social practices; that the long-term cost to taxpayers of climate change should be minimised by banks investing now in sustainable practices; and that banks should also play a role in investing in low-carbon industries and renewable energy. 

“If there is a global danger even more potent than financial meltdown, it is climate change,” he said.  “It is surely right that, in pumping billions into the banking sector and looking at how to regulate it against financial irresponsibility, we put in place requirements for environmental responsibility to help the world to avert climate catastrophe.”

Andrew has already pressed for huge investment in energy conservation, renewables and sustainable transport, and voted against the Government to oppose the third Heathrow runway. 

(Full Speech: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2009-11-26b.729.2)