Big Business
We campaigned successfully for a new law to be passed to make large companies do more to prevent social and environmental problems caused by their activities. Last year the goverment passed "The Companies Act 2006" which requires major companies listed on the stock market to report on their social and environmental imacts and take steps to minimize any problems. See Friends of the Earth corporate success stories.
The high street banks
Many people do not think about their savings or pensions being linked to environmental issues, but high street banks may be using your money to fund activities you may not approve of such as funding schemes causing rainforest destruction or providing funds for new coal fired power stations. Pension funds may also be invested in companies with a poor record on social and environmental issues. Currently the only high street bank with clear ethical policies is the Cooperative Bank. The Triodos Bank also aims to be ethical.
Some of the high street banks are currently (or formerly) the subject of campaigns by various environmental and social groups.
For Barclays, see Barclays case studies by Friends of the Earth and Christian Aid's analysis of Barclays profile.
For HSBC, read FoE's briefing.
For The Royal Bank of Scotland/Nat West, see the report - "The oil and gas bank - The RBS and the financing of climate change".
Pensions
Most working people pay into a pension fund but generally have little knowledge of the companies being invested in. Pension fund trustees are under no obligation to supply pension fund members with full details of the companies they invest in. The companies invested in may not operate with sound social and environmental policies and may well be some of the companies we campaign on. To address this problem a charity has been established, called Fair Pensions.
Trade
We have campaigned for many years on trade issues to make the global rules on trade fair and which operate in ways that prevent environmental destruction. We have campaigned particularly against the World Trade Organization and its "Free trade" policies. For more information see the trade section on the main Friends of the Earth website.