Five of the UK’s biggest banks may be investing customers’ money into animal cruelty such as factory farming, captive animal entertainment and animal testing, according to a report by World Animal Protection UK.
The “Banking on Welfare” report assessed the policies of ten of the UK’s biggest banks and found that Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Metro Bank and Santander make no reference to animal welfare in any of their policies.
The research was conducted using the 2023 Fair Finance Guide Methodology (FFG) which assesses the policies of financial institutions on 21 sustainability themes, one of which is animal welfare.
In contrast, banks which scored higher for animal welfare included Triodos, Standard Chartered, The Co-operative Bank, NatWest and Virgin Money, all of which highlighted animal welfare in other policy documents, with Triodos referencing it in more than all other banks.
World Animal Protection’s polling of 2000 UK consumers showed that 3 in 5 people wanted all banks to have an animal welfare policy, with the same amount feeling misled that their bank may be investing their money in harmful activities.
Lindsay Duncan, World Animal Protection’s Farming Campaigns Manager, said: “By not having a dedicated animal welfare policy, these banks are likely to be investing their customers’ money into cruel practices such as industrial scale factory farming. We are calling on customers to write to their bank urging them to put in place a dedicated animal welfare policy to stop them investing in animal cruelty.”
Globally, more than 80 billion animals are used for farming each year, with over two-thirds of chickens raised in intensive indoor systems and 1.5 billion pigs trapped in intensive farming conditions, unable to express their natural behaviours.
World Animal Protection are calling on UK customers to write to their bank and urge them to put in place a dedicated animal welfare policy to stop them investing in animal cruelty.
On Wednesday 6 December, World Animal Protection released their “Banking on Welfare” report which revealed five of the UK’s biggest banks may be investing customers’ money into animal cruelty. The research found that Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Metro Bank and Santander make no reference to animal welfare in any of their policies, while Triodos, Standard Chartered, The Co-operative Bank, NatWest and Virgin Money highlighted animal welfare in other policy documents.
Lindsay Duncan, World Animal Protection’s Farming Campaigns Manager, said: “By not having a dedicated animal welfare policy, these banks are likely to be investing their customers’ money into cruel practices such as industrial scale factory farming. We are calling on customers to write to their bank urging them to put in place a dedicated animal welfare policy to stop them investing in animal cruelty.”
World Animal Protection’s polling of 2000 UK consumers showed that 3 in 5 people want all banks to have an animal welfare policy, with nearly half of people polled willing to move their bank to ensure their money is not used in investments that may be cruel to animals.
Globally, more than 80 billion animals are used for farming each year, with over two-thirds of chickens raised in intensive indoor systems and 1.5 billion pigs trapped in intensive farming conditions, unable to express their natural behaviours.
World Animal Protection are encouraging UK customers to write to their bank and urge them to implement a dedicated animal welfare policy to stop them investing in animal cruelty.
