We are in a climate crisis
The United Church of Canada has long accepted the science that shows human activities are greatly increasing greenhouse gasses and thus the overall temperature of the planet. This crisis is a tangled web, part of a global system that has many moving parts and is hard to untangle. It is a system that is destroying our planet. Future generations are at risk. Bold, daring, and public action is needed. We are called to collaborate deeply with Indigenous peoples, people of all ages, global partners, the ecumenical community, civil society, and governments in change strategies. Time is running out. We must act now. Join us!
But why divestment?
Banking institutions worldwide continue to fund fossil fuel expansion. This includes tar sands, fracking, deepwater drilling, liquefied natural gas, and coal mining. Between 2016 and 2021, Canadian banks funneled an alarming CA $911 billion into coal, oil, gas, and tar sands. This undermines our own individual and congregational efforts. That’s why the 2023 Prairie to Pine Regional meeting voted to begin this work. Click here to read the proposal as passed.
What you can offer
On this page you will find some key documents outlining commitments to encourage scrutiny of our Regional Council and community of faith investments, and the letters and resources to help you do so. We hope you will consider joining these efforts. New materials and updates from around the Regional Council and the wider church will be shared on this page; scroll down to read the latest news.
We hope our actions, choices, and prayers across the hundreds of ministries and communities included in our Regional Council will make a small and important contribution to the move away from fossil fuels, and towards more sustainable energy use. And we hope that you will be part of it.
Introduction for Prairie to Pine ministries and members- and friends
Introductory letter and update to Prairie to Pine ministries and members, March 2024 (PDF)
Templates of letters to banks and credit unions
Why divestment?
The five major Canadian Banks (RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, and CIBC) are heavily invested in the Alberta Tar Sands, the Coastal GasLink Pipeline, the TransMountain Pipeline Expansion, and the doubling of Line 3 that goes through Manitoba and into the United States at Gretna. These projects have been executed without the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples of those areas.
Between 2016 and 2021, Canadian banks have funneled an alarming CA $911 billion into coal, oil, gas, and tar sands. To put this number in perspective, between 2016 and 2020, the federal government invested $60 billion in climate action and clean growth. Recent reports name the Royal Bank of Canada as the number one funder of fossil fuel extraction in the world. It is evident that banks are not going to decrease their funding without pressure from outside, and that this continued investment in fossil fuel extraction undermines citizen and government efforts to move away from fossil fuels.
Getting started on engagement
Here are Word documents of letter templates for all four major Canadian banks, and a more general template for credit unions. Use them as you wish for your own letters and for guides to conversation if you manage to sit down and talk with a manager. When you click on these, they will automatically download to your device, so look for them in your Downloads or Files folders.
Letter: Bank of Montreal (BMO)
Conversation and reporting support
Questions guide to support your conversations with managers
Reporting guide, so your experience and research help others
Climate justice and divestment resources
Resources on fossil fuel investment and divestment
Prepared by the Prairie to Pine Climate Finance Task Group, March 2024. Click here for a PDF version of this resource list.
For ongoing updates on climate action and resources in the Prairie to Pine Region, please see our web page on the Prairie to Pine website. Use this as your home base!
Banks and investments
Letter templates for all major banks and for credit unions overall are on our web page.
The United Church of Canada Responsible Investing Guiding Principles was most recently updated in 2018 and is a useful guide for faithful stewardship of church funds. Please click here to access the PDF.
Banking on Climate Chaos: A number of global organizations have been tracking fossil fuel investment for the past 13 years. If you bank with one of Canada’s mainline banks, you can learn, through this report the amount your bank invested in fossil fuels in 2022. Click here to access their entire site.
How banks are cashing in on the climate crisis: A basic video primer offered by Greenpeace on how banks are contributing to the climate crisis. Click here for the YouTube video.
General climate resources
For the Love of Creation is a faith-based resource for group climate action. Excellent for discerning what action you can take together, it’s an ecumenical commitment shared by the United Church through KAIROS.
The Week: This three-part video series is offered free to faith communities and offers a clear look at where we are right now, why there is reason for hope, and difference action we might engage in. A real motivator for individuals and communities. Click here for their website and the videos.
Here is the most recent report on what United Churches have done in terms of climate action.
Climate justice news
Climate crisis: What can congregations do?
Rev Don Schau, Atlantic Garden City United Church in Winnipeg, offers some thoughts on choosing to get a community of faith involved in climate justice work. Even when the struggle seems daunting or too contentious, there are ways forward that all our communities of...
Engaging your financial institutions: divesting from fossil fuel
Regional Invitation: Engaging your financial institutions on divesting from fossil fuel PDF version of this letter, which was sent 2 April 2024 to all Prairie to Pine communities of faith by email. Dear friends, The past year was declared by scientists to be the...
Open meetings on Regional climate justice and financing
Your or your community of faith will soon receive a letter from Prairie to Pine encouraging you to start a conversation with your bank or credit union about where your money is invested. The concern has to do with the billions of dollars that Canadian banks are...
Zeebu 2024 Youth Retreat – A Global Warming of Hearts
Feb 17 to 19, 2024 at Killarney United Church, 35 participants and 19 young leaders gathered for a weekend of community building while exploring a climate justice theme. Thanks to all the participants who attended and made it fun! Thanks to communities of...
Climate vigil leading to climate cooperation in Pembina Valley
Congratulations to St Paul’s United in Morden for responding to For the Love of Creation’s ecumenical call to hold vigils as the United Nations global climate conference wrapped up. Click here to read the full article and see photos of the event. Thank you to reporter...
Climate Motivators wrap up but the work continues
The summer of 2023 has flown by, and for many, it was marked by extensive wildfires whose intensity and frequency have been linked to climate change. We need some hope and renewed commitments as we see the impacts of climate change, and in this article you'll find...
Regional fossil fuel divestment and new paths towards climate justice
Many thanks to the United Church project Faithful Footprints for this thorough story on Prairie to Pine’s new policy on divesting from financial institutions that are funding major climate change drivers. The policy also calls for education, engagement, and...
New Regional policy calling for climate change divestment
The following proposal was passed at the 2023 meeting of Prairie to Pine Regional Council. This post begins with the action section of the proposal, which was changed following discussion and feedback from delegates. Then the original background to the proposal...
Youth Climate Motivators working in our midst this summer!
Three Prairie to Pine youth accepted jobs through a General Council and Government of Canada program where they will be working on, and learning about, climate issues and activism in an online setting with peers across Canada. They'll also get involved in local...
