'We could fix our world': Martin Freeman voices net zero pension campaign animation

An animated film starring Martin Freeman is leading the latest push from the Make My Money Matter campaign to encourage all pension funds in the UK to commit to making their portfolios compatible with net zero emissions by 2050, as calls grow for investments to help protect against "the ravages of climate change".

The minute-long film narrated by the Sherlock and The Office actor warns that "if we aren't careful, things will unravel fast" due to "huge changes in geography". As Freeman speaks threads keep pulling away from the body of a man made from wool.

Freeman then calls on consumers and businesses to ensure their money is invested sustainably in order to "help the planet and all of us who live on it", arguing that "if you have a bank account or a pension, you are powerful - you can make your money matter".

"If all our money was invested with an eye on right and wrong, we could stop everything unravelling," the narrator states. "Protect ourselves from the ravages of climate change. We could end extreme poverty. We could fix our world before we get wiped out."

The animated short was written by Richard Curtis - the screenwriter behind hit comedies such as Four Weddings and Funeral and Blackadder - who is leading the Make My Money Matter campaign, which was launched last month in a bid help make the UK's £3tr pension pot more sustainable.

The campaign, which is also calling on pension schemes to report on their emissions projections and their alignment with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, has so far attracted support from a number of leading firms, including BNP Paribas, Triodos Bank, Ecotricity, Good Energy, and the Environment Agency Pension Fund.

Last month, one of the UK's largest pension providers - Nest - committed to a net zero portfolio by 2050, as well as promising to fully divest from thermal coal, oil sands and Arctic drilling by 2025, in a landmark announcement in the pensions sector.

 

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