Amongst its £5 billion investments, the Church is seeking to profit from many of the activities driving climate change and causing widespread environmental destruction.
The Church of England's two largest investments are in oil companies (£196.5m). As well as their clear interest in the burning of fossil fuels, the largest, Royal Dutch Shell (£103.7 m) was also recently criticised by Amnesty International for bringing pollution and environmental damage to the Nile Delta, one of the world’s most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems.
Then there are the mining companies, which, environmental groups consistently point out, are part of the most polluting industries in the world. Having a disproportionately negative impact on marine-dependent and land-based communities, the use of coal in energy generation is a major contributor to destructive climate change.
CAFOD, War on Want, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and even some Anglican bishops have condemned BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American (collectively £62m) for their harmful activities. Indigenous churches have also documented the terrible impact in Australia, West Papua, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Canada, Colombia and Chile, of BHP Billiton (£29m) alone.
The Church saying one thing and doing another has consequences. Looked to as having an ‘ethical’ investment model, by putting its money into such companies the church is giving legitimacy to their unethical practices. This includes companies like Exxon Mobil (£17.2m) who the Guardian newspaper recently revealed was continuing to fund lobby groups which support climate change denial.
Independent pensions analyst, John Ralfe, suggests the Church has been seduced by the ‘equity cult’. It is true that the Church is now finally beginning to turn its attention to climate change funds with a few comparatively small investments. But this is not just about shares. During the last two decades, the Church's other major investment decisions have involved selling social housing and investing instead in several large out-of-town retail parks. Green campaigners have highlighted their impact on longer car journeys and increasing carbon emissions.
The argument that the Church of England mounts in its defence – and for that matter now, the Methodist Church, which also seeks to profit from most of the same companies – is that it needs to maintain a balanced portfolio. Oil and mining are a fact of life, so there is no reason why the churches shouldn’t seek to make money from them.
