| 
Nobody's sure what the future will look like once the coronavirus pandemic ends -- but we do know that fossil fuels have no place in it.
So why is the European Central Bank responding to the crisis by throwing billions at our dirtiest industries?
€1.1 trillion. That's how much the ECB will spend this year to prop up the economy. And if we don't act right now, a significant portion of that will go to coal, oil, gas and airline corporations -- steering us away from the EU's promised green recovery and straight into climate disaster.
Ahead of the bank's next meeting on June 4, we need to rally together and demand the ECB put our planet before big polluters!
Tell the European Central Bank to stop financing climate chaos!
Hundreds of thousands of SumOfUs members like you have told the EU its emergency coronavirus spending must fall in line with a fair and just climate transition. With commissioners, governments and environmental organisations all on board, our chances for a green recovery are higher than ever.
But with its secretive 'quantitative easing' system, the ECB could undo all that. It's set to finance some of Europe's biggest polluters to up to €132 billion, from Shell to Fortum -- the energy corp trying to sue the Netherlands for phasing out coal!
These corporations have already pushed our climate to the brink. Just last week Cyclone Amphan, one of the strongest storms on record, wreaked destruction across Bengal. The effects of the climate crisis are already here, and continued rising temperatures will only make such ‘super cyclones’ more likely.
With extra no-strings billions lining their pockets, imagine how many lives and lands will be crushed.
Tell the European Central Bank to stop financing climate chaos!
The pandemic has been devastating -- but our recovery from it is an unprecedented opportunity to effect lasting, meaningful change for people and the planet. At a time when even private banks are starting to distance themselves from coal, oil and gas, we can't let the ECB ruin our progress.
Now's the time to expose the bank's shameful practices, force it to cut off fossil fuels and demand it invest in the green future our world deserves. Are you with us?
Yes -- I'll sign the urgent petition now
Thanks for all that you do,
Leyla and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
EU's COVID recovery spending should be guided by green finance plan: experts
Reuters. 26 April 2020.
Quantitative easing and climate: The ECB’s dirty secret
Reclaim Finance. 18 May 2020.
ECB’s Brown Bonds Draw Criticism Once Again Amid Stimulus Boost
Bloomberg. 17 May 2020.
USD 870 billion of Quantitative Easing: how much will go to polluting companies ?
Reclaim Finance. 23 March 2020
Coal generator uses investment treaty to fight Netherlands coal phaseout
Reuters. 21 May 2020
Amphan: Cyclone wreaks deadly havoc in India and Bangladesh
BBC. 20 May 2020
