"What the EU is doing to make our money more ethical and why you should care", 8 Nov 2018

When companies look for land to build palm oil plantations abroad, or when they want to drill for oil or minerals, they rely on investment from European banks to be able to roll out these projects. The same European banks we put our money into. So far, weak regulations have let banks and other investors turn a blind eye to where their money is going.

However, on Monday MEPs voted to ensure that these investments now have to be more transparent regarding the environmental and ethical risks they pose. Additionally, investors themselves will now have to take action to ensure that our money does not cause harm to people and planet here in Europe or around the world. This is not only relevant for bankers in suits. It’s important for all of us: these new rules prevent our money from being used to drive devastating deforestation or human rights abuses abroad...

The job is definitely not done yet — we now need to influence the 28 EU member state governments to support this initiative and ensure the financial sector is transparent and accountable...