Make My Money Matter Wants You to Stop Banking on Fossil Fuels

Created by Mother, the ad highlights the link between UK banks and fossil fuels, urging consumers to rethink their banking choices

By Creative Salon

18 February 2025

Make My Money Matter is turning up the pressure on the UK’s biggest banks, calling on them to stop financing new fossil fuel projects. The group—founded by filmmaker and activist Richard Curtis—highlights the financial sector’s role in funding climate harm in its latest ad, Beep. Starring One Day and This Is Going to Hurt actor Ambika Mod, the film uses humour to deliver a serious message. It follows previous work featuring Olivia Colman and Kit Harington, all aimed at pushing Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander, and NatWest to take decisive action.

‘Beep’ illustrates the unseen link between the Big Five fossil-fuel high-street banks and the climate destruction they finance using a powerful visual metaphor. Each time a customer taps their bank card; a piece of the planet goes up in flames. Make My Money Matter hopes the film will prompt individuals and businesses to switch to fossil-free banks such as Nationwide, Starling or Triodos Bank.

This year began with the climate crisis dominating headlines, with unprecedented wildfires causing destruction in the US State of California, the effects of which were worsened by climate change according to scientists. 2024 was the hottest on record and the first with an average temperature exceeding 1.5C above the pre-industrial level – the threshold set by the 2016 Paris Agreement to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. 

Izzy Howden, senior campaign manager, Make My Money Matter commented: “For too long the big five UK high-street banks have actively financed the climate crisis because they rake in large profits while destroying the planet. As we see climate chaos in action – from California to Australia, from Brazil to Portugal – these banks shirk responsibility and greenwash their reputations while continuing to support fossil fuel companies. It’s time for this to change. People can send a message by ditching these fossil-fuel banks for good and switching to a greener alternative.”

The UK Big Five high-street banks have financed fossil fuel companies with $556 billion since the Paris Agreement. None have ruled out financing oil and gas companies to expand their operations, a key step to urgently limiting global heating as the International Energy Agency outlined.

Ben Strebel, director of ‘Beep’ commented: “With everything that’s happening in the world at the moment, there’s little more important than facing up to the climate crisis. Our latest film for Make My Money Matter brings some much-needed urgency to the conversation around the funding of fossil fuel companies, and the way they are destroying our planet. As a dad, I think this message is really about protecting the world for the younger generations and striving to inspire significant action, NOW.”

Created by Mother and produced by Biscuit Filmworks, the campaign aims to connect people’s banking choices with the climate crisis and provide consumers with greener options that don’t finance fossil fuels. They include high-street building society Nationwide, fin-tech bank Starling and gold-standard Triodos Bank.

James Ross Edwards, creative director at Mother added: "We didn’t want to leave any room for uncertainty regarding the damage investments in the fossil fuel industry by UK high street banks is causing our planet. We really hope the film encourages people to reconsider who they’re banking with.”

Make My Money Matter is urging individuals and organisations to switch to a fossil-free bank here. Switching is easy and guaranteed by the Current Account Switch Guarantee.