Banking on a Better Future is now
Change Course
RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO and CIBC are among the top global funders of fossil fuels. They have poured over $1.1 TRILLION into fossil fuels in the last 7 years. This will have a lasting impact on our future. Canada’s youth are refusing to participate in this destructive financing and taking action.
Over the past year, youth from across so-called Canada have been protesting and speaking out against the choices that banks continue to make to fund the destruction of our future. We know banks are feeling the pressure, but to win we need everyone’s support. Are you ready to get involved?
If you are a young person living in so-called Canada, join the fight by signing up to join Banking on a Better Future here! If that feels like too big a step, start by signing our youth pledge to stop banking on fossil fuels.
Illustrations by Meech Boakye
Banks are funding the destruction of our future. Since 2016, the big 5 Canadian banks have collectively poured over $900 billion into fossil fuels (RAN, 2022). This is their message:
Learn more with the Banking on Climate Chaos, 2022 report from Rainforest Action Network, and the Money Can’t Buy Our Love report we co-released with Greenpeace Canada.
Pledge not to Bank with Climate Criminals
Since the 2016 Paris Climate agreement, the Big 5 Canadian banks collectively have poured over $1.1 TRILLION into fossil fuel projects. This jeopardizes the livelihoods of communities globally and locally, and puts our future at risk. But we can take a stand. We pledge not to bank with these institutions, until such a time when they make meaningful commitments to climate, Indigenous Sovereignty, and all forms of life, locally, globally, now, and into the future.
We are the Big 5’s current and future clients. We can demand they end their funding for colonial violence and climate destruction. We do not consent to our money being lent to projects that inflict harm. Commercial banks are afraid of losing young people: they rely on a steady influx of new customers who will stay with them long-term. This means they need us behind them. But we have options! It’s time to tell the Big 5 that they cannot rely on us if we cannot rely on them to safeguard our future. If tens of thousands of young people pledge to no longer keep their money with the Big 5, or open their first accounts with alternative options, banks will have to listen. We are building a movement they can not ignore.
We ask you to join us, in Banking on a Better Future.
*Please note that this pledge is not legally binding, and we ask that no one below the age of 13 signs this pledge.
While this is directed at youth, anyone is welcome to sign in solidarity. If you do not consider yourself a youth, we also recommend checking out Climate Pledge Collective’s bankswitch pledge.
Who We Are
We are a group of grassroots youth organizers from across so-called Canada, focused on institutional fossil fuel divestment. We came together from groups including Divest Canada and Climate Strike Canada to put pressure on the Canadian banks to end their financing of the climate crisis.
We organize on traditional Indigenous territory and recognize that the Canadian state does not have legitimate governance over Indigenous peoples and lands. We stand in solidarity with Indigenous land defenders and strive to support efforts towards Indigenous sovereignty, the return of land to Indigenous peoples and the dismantling of settler colonialism.
Learn more about Banking on a Better Future by visiting our “About Us” tab!
