The RT-ON Foundation's financial campaign challenges banks, insurers and reinsurers to stop investing in fossil fuels. Our aim is to show how financial institutions in Poland should operate in line with climate science and to promote awareness of green finance.
What we do:
1. We ask uncomfortable questions at AGMs.
We attend annual general meetings of bank and insurer shareholders. These are the events where key decisions on the company's strategy are taken, resolutions are voted on, financial statements are approved, and the board is granted discharge.
The question segment allows questions to be asked about the climate strategy or data related to environmental impacts.
This is an ideal opportunity to raise objections to fossil fuel financing – both to the company's management and other shareholders.
Read more about shareholder climate activism:
https://rt-on.pl/en/green-finance/act-now
2. We prepare reports on banks’ and insurers’ climate strategies
We believe that insurers and banks can accelerate the energy transition. That is why we are part of the Insure Our Future campaign where, together with other organisations, we produce an annual report ranking the world's largest insurance and reinsurance companies in terms of their maturity in moving away from insuring and investing in fossil fuels.
You can read an article about the recent Insure Our Future 2021 report here:
https://global.insure-our-future.com/scorecard/
Just recently, we also prepared a banking report in which we analysed the policies of the 7 largest banks in Poland (in terms of their assets) with regard to moving away from fossil fuels:
https://rt-on.pl/wiadomosci/item/633-raport-bankowy-maj-2022
3. We educate
We believe in working at the grassroots, which is why since 2021 - alongside with putting pressure on big financial companies - we have been conducting educational activities aimed at students and teaching staff at Polish universities. As part of the #GreenFinance educational campaign, we organize webinars, workshops and lectures with specialists on the topic of sustainable finance.
By spreading awareness of the scale of the financial sector's impact on the environment and the steps that can be taken to minimize this impact, we hope to bring a pulse of change to the center of the sector's structures and spark discussion about its real transformation.
So far, we have collaborated on green finance education with the following universities and groups:
- Leon Kozminski Academy
- Wroclaw University of Economics
- SKN TIGER
In 2022-2023, we intend to go beyond economics universities with educational activities - to other universities and activist groups. Wider education means greater awareness, and greater awareness leads to increased pressure and necessary changes.