Ethical bank, armaments, peace, sustainability and the social economy: the proposals for a new finance in Europe: the appeal to the next Parliament

ROMA – Enact a community law that requires banks and financial institutions to be transparent about their dealings with the arms trade; report adverse impacts and initiate binding processes for those who wish to declare Net Zero, about zero global net emissions of carbon dioxide from human activities. And again: help and not penalize social enterprises in accessing credit.

The three in view of the European elections. These are the three themes on which, in view of the European elections of 8 and 9 June, the Ethical Bank Group proposes to all the people who are candidates to be elected to the European Parliament a discussion on legislative measures which – by affecting the financial system – can promote peace, the protection of the environment and the growth of the social economy.

Positive results over decades of history. In decades of history, ethical finance has grown greatly throughout Europe, combining more than positive results from an economic and financial point of view with full coherence in the values ​​and principles that define it and which have always guided its choices. In light of this coherence, legitimacy and credibility the Ethical Bank Groupfounding member of European Federation of Ethical Banks e Alternative PHEBEAformulates some concrete proposals to be placed at the center of the European agenda in the coming years to respond to three of the major challenges that the Union must face: the promotion of peace, the fight against climate change, the support and promotion of social economy.

Stratospheric profits for those who make weapons. Investments in weapons cannot be declared sustainable; more transparency on the role of banks in the arms trade The intensification of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts has led to an arms race which involves not only public spending but gives stratospheric profits to arms producers, banks and investment companies that support them.

The arms trade and its close connection with corruption. That a delicate sector such as that of the production and trade of armaments – which has a violent impact on human rights and geopolitical balances and which, according to the Sipri (the Stockholm Peace Research Institute) is responsible for more than 40% of global corruption phenomena – both subject to special and strengthened transparency rules. “Ethical finance has always categorically excluded any financing or investment in the war industry – says Anna Fasano, president of Banca Etica – We do not ask that the entire financial system adopt this rule, but we ask that investments in weapons be excluded from any definition of sustainable finance, contrary to what was recently stated by the Union defense ministers.

Changes to the Italian arms export law will prevent access to information. Meanwhile, in Italy the Government has decided to dismantle law 185 of 1990 which regulates the export of Italian weapons to the world: if the changes are approved, citizens and Parliament will no longer have access to information on arms exports and on which banks finance these operations profitably”.

What is asked of the next European Parliament. The Banca Etica Group asks the next European Parliament to pass a community law that requires banks and financial institutions to be transparent about their dealings with the arms trade. Citizens and savers as well as institutions need to know if their bank is using their money to finance arms deals that are not always transparent.

The fight against tax havens. Even a serious action to combat tax havens would go in the direction of limiting less clear financial operations to support arms supplies, as well as finding resources for the most urgent public policies that the Union needs.

Finance for the environment. Report adverse impacts; binding routes for those who want to declare Net Zero. The role of finance in directing the economy towards models and solutions with low environmental emissions is now recognized by all. The EU has already done a lot in this field: efforts have unfortunately been diluted during the course of the work and even investments in gas and nuclear energy are now classified as sustainable.

The scam of those who say one thing and do another. Many studies have highlighted widespread phenomena of greenwashing, that is, the communication strategy of certain companies, organizations or political institutions to deceptively give themselves a positive image, but continue to massively finance fossil fuels. The largest 60 banking groups – often the same ones at the forefront in magnifying their own “sustainability” – have provided five thousand five hundred billion dollars to the fossil fuel industry in the last seven years.