RBS: Financing a Green New Deal?

Could a publicly-owned RBS being run in the public interest provide the much-needed investment to kick start a low-carbon economy? We’ve lined up an expert panel to debate this timely question.

Ironically, the global economic meltdown caused by banks last year provided a perfect opportunity to achieve our Ditch Dirty Development campaigns aims – shifting funding from fossil fuels towards renewables. With the UK’s dirtiest bank, RBS, now under public ownership, People & Planet teamed up with the World Development Movement (WDM) and Platform to launch a landmark legal challenge to force the Treasury to clean up RBS investments. The concept of a Green New Deal (green jobs, clean energy, sustainable financing) has spread around the world fast since first proposed last year, but world governments have yet to act on it.

Our panelists will discuss how we could make this a reality.

• Julian Oram, Head of Policy for the World Development Movement, who are campaigning with us to clean up bailed-out banks.

• Rosa Curling, from Leigh Day & Co Solicitors who prepared our legal case against the Treasury

• Ann Pettifor, Green New Deal co-author and executive director of Advocacy International

Chaired by Ian Leggett, Director of People & Planet