18 September, 2024

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus – European Province has become a signatory to a new global initiative, the Green Investment Declaration, to fund a greener future.

The Society is an international Roman Catholic Religious Congregation of women who live and serve across four continents

Supported by UK charities Operation Noah and JustMoney Movement, the Declaration celebrates progress made within Christian organisations that are moving their money into climate solutions as part of the fight against climate change.

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus – European Province has been awarded oak level of the initiative, in recognition of their commitment to help fund a green, clean transition.

Yet it’s not just about the amount of money faith investors put into climate solutions, but also about the need for values-driven investors to publicly advocate for green investment, creating ripples throughout the wider Church and society, encouraging others to do likewise.

Internationally, Churches manage billions of pounds of investments, with a UN Environment Programme official calling global faith groups – which collectively have trillions of dollars of assets and investments – the third largest economic power on earth. Church Investors Group’s 67 members (largely from Britain and Ireland) have combined investment assets of over £26bn.

As faith groups, investing in climate solutions is more crucial than ever as global emissions must be nearly halved by 2030 in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Investing in climate solutions is key to ensuring a rapid phase out of fossil fuels – the primary source of planet-heating greenhouse gases – by creating cheaper and cleaner alternatives for transport, energy generation and industry.