Rev. Bob Janis-Dillon, the Congregational Connections Lead Officer, has been busy putting Unitarians across the UK in touch with each other to discuss the tricky issue of climate change and ethical investing. At our recent Annual General Meeting, the Unitarian and Free Christian General Assembly passed a motion that directed us to not invest in fossil fuels and encouraged all Unitarian congregations and funds to do the same.

This is a topic of interest to many of us, particularly here at Newcastle upon Tyne Unitarians – we’ll soon be selling our building and will need to think about how we invest the proceeds. We discussed this at our own AGM in April 2021, and members of the congregation expressed an interest in learning more. We’ll need to think about how best we can take action on this!

This was one of the more technical discussions we’ve had, heading into areas of detail, but without obscuring the big ethical issues at play. It’s sobering to think that one of the ways we have a big impact on the world – where our funds and even our pensions are invested – is one we don’t always think about. As well as climate change, we thought about avoiding investments in tobacco, armaments, and other areas that raise big ethical questions. It was very ably led by Sarah Boyce from Cardiff Unitarians, to whom many thanks! You can see a recording here, and I’d encouraged Unitarians to view it: https://youtu.be/YDIpwm3HCb4