Fossil Fuel Banks Cause Climate Chaos at Make My Money Matter's Garden Centre

Ambika Mod, Star of One Day and This Is Going to Hurt, gives a humorous performance in the latest Make My Money Matter campaign advert, ‘Beep’.  

The campaign group – founded by filmmaker and activist Richard Curtis – today mounts further pressure on UK high-street banks – Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander, and NatWest – to stop financing new fossil fuels. It follows on from previous films raising awareness of the links between the UK financial sector and the climate harm caused by the fossil fuel companies they finance: Oblivia Coalmine, starring Olivia Colman and The Hidden Relationship, starring on and off-screen couple Kit Harington and Rose Leslie.  

‘Beep’ illustrates the unseen link between the Big Five fossil-fuel high-street banks and the climate destruction they finance using a powerful visual metaphor. Each time a customer taps their bank card; a piece of the planet goes up in flames. Make My Money Matter hopes the film will prompt individuals and businesses to switch to fossil-free banks such as Nationwide, Starling or Triodos Bank. 

This year began with the climate crisis dominating headlines, with unprecedented wildfires causing destruction in the US State of California, the effects of which were worsened by climate change according to scientists. 2024 was the hottest on record and the first with an average temperature exceeding 1.5C above the pre-industrial level – the threshold set by the 2016 Paris Agreement to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.  

The UK Big Five high-street banks have financed fossil fuel companies with $556 billion since the Paris Agreement. None have ruled out financing oil and gas companies expanding their operations, a key step to urgently limiting global heating as the International Energy Agency outlined.  

Created by Mother and produced by Biscuit Filmworks, the campaign aims to connect people’s banking choices with the climate crisis and provide consumers with greener options that don’t finance fossil fuels. They include high-street building society Nationwide, fin-tech bank Starling and gold-standard Triodos Bank.  

Make My Money Matter is urging individuals and organisations to switch to a fossil-free bank here. Switching is easy and guaranteed by the Current Account Switch Guarantee.  

Izzy Howden, senior campaign manager, Make My Money Matter commented, “For too long the big five UK high-street banks have actively financed the climate crisis because they rake in large profits while destroying the planet. As we see climate chaos in action – from California to Australia, from Brazil to Portugal – these banks shirk responsibility and greenwash their reputations while continuing to support fossil fuel companies. It’s time for this to change. People can send a message by ditching these fossil-fuel banks for good and switching to a greener alternative.”  

Ben Strebel, director of ‘Beep’ commented, “With everything that’s happening in the world at the moment, there’s little more important than facing up to the climate crisis. Our latest film for Make My Money Matter brings some much-needed urgency to the conversation around the funding of fossil fuel companies, and the way they are destroying our planet. As a dad, I think this message is really about protecting the world for the younger generations and striving to inspire significant action, NOW.”

James Ross Edwards, creative director at Mother added, "We didn’t want to leave any room for uncertainty regarding the damage investments in the fossil fuel industry by UK high street banks is causing our planet. We really hope the film encourages people to reconsider who they’re banking with.”