Safer Chemicals
In 2003/2004 we campaigned in partnership with WWF-UK for Safer Chemicals.
"We are all living in an unregulated global chemical experiment. People and wildlife around the world, from a new born in the UK to a polar bear in the Arctic, are exposed to a cocktail of industrial chemicals"
WWF - UK
Our Safer Chemicals campaign targeted chemicals that are persistent (meaning they don't readily break down) and bioaccumulative (meaning they tend to build up in living things, particularly in body fat).
Persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals have been found to contaminate not only wildlife and the environment but ourselves, breast milk and the unborn child.
Along with WWF-UK, our campaign called for them to be phased out and replaced with Safer Alternatives.
Why we campaigned
The bank's position on the manufacture of these chemicals is clear:
'We will not invest in any business whose core activity contributes to the manufacture of chemicals which are persistent in the environment and linked to long term health concerns' Ethical Policy Statement.
We have refused to invest in these companies for over five years. We know this is a position our customers support as 88% of you voted for it in our last Ethical Policy customer consultation (2001). To find out more see our Ethical Policy Statement. As well as refusing to invest in companies manufacturing these chemicals, the bank continues to phase-out its use of products (eg. fixtures and fittings, like carpets and paint) that contain them and seeks out alternatives.
Campaign highlights
- July 2003 - The bank funded biomonitoring tests of over 150 volunteers including Bank Staff, MPs and MEPs to demonstrate the presence of man-made chemicals in our blood. Everyone tested was found to be contaminated with a cocktail of man-made chemicals.
- January 2004 - We donated £100,000 to Surfers Against Sewage, Pesticide Action Network and Friends of the Earth to fund new work on Safer Chemicals.
- May 2004 - Our awareness-raising Safer Chemicals advertising campaign hit national press, reaching 1 in 3 of the population (see the ad).
- Hundreds of people took direct action as a result of the ads by writing to secretary of state, Margaret Beckett MP.
- January 2005 - we donated £110,000 to five charities working for safer chemicals. The Soil Association, HDRA The Organic Association, The Women's Environmental Network, Allergy UK and The Bhopal Medical Appeal each received a share of the donation in accordance with customer votes.
- We provided funding and support for the report 'Breast cancer: an environmental disease. The case for primary prevention'. The report became the basis for the 'No more breast cancer campaign'. More details at: www.nomorebreastcancer.org.uk
