Science & Technology

How to Stop Banks from Investing in Fossil Fuels | Lucie Pinson | TED

Money is pollution’s biggest driving force — particularly, the cash invested in dirty energy projects, says financial responsibility campaigner Lucie Pinson. She shares a three-pronged approach to stop banks from funding fossil fuel companies, including what she calls “collaborative blackmailing” (it’s more ethical than it sounds). By demanding more accountability from polluting companies and encouraging…

Published

on

Money is pollution’s biggest driving force — particularly, the cash invested in dirty energy projects, says financial responsibility campaigner Lucie Pinson. She shares a three-pronged approach to stop banks from funding fossil fuel companies, including what she calls “collaborative blackmailing” (it’s more ethical than it sounds). By demanding more accountability from polluting companies and encouraging ethical banking, Pinson shows how to cut off the problem at its source.

Countdown is TED’s global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at

Learn more about #TEDCountdown:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Facebook:
Website:

The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

Watch more: go.ted.com/luciepinson

TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

94 Comments

  1. Ligia Sommers

    May 31, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏻✨

  2. KirShizzle

    May 31, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    Stupid take.

  3. tim c

    May 31, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    Lets have to much clean energy before cutting back on fossil fuels ,

    • Average Helper

      May 31, 2022 at 5:12 pm

      Gotta finance the clean energy projects tho

  4. Erik

    May 31, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    Someone needs to do a talk on blackrock’s attempts to turn the population into permanent renters and prevent property ownership in future generations.

  5. aka roky

    May 31, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    womans that we need

  6. Doug Eva

    May 31, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    This is why fuel is becoming unaffordable. Virtue signal BS

  7. Doug N

    May 31, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    This should be called “how to make inflation worse and people more miserable: 101”

    • Average Helper

      May 31, 2022 at 5:10 pm

      Explain

    • Doug N

      May 31, 2022 at 5:28 pm

      @Average Helper How many of those people in the audience at that Ted Talk used fossil fuels to get there? How many of those people would still attend if walking and bike riding were the only options to get there.

  8. Philip Beard

    May 31, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    I couldn’t even make it to the end, so idiotic

  9. Danky Skull

    May 31, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    Green energy is a scam. They are dependant on fossil fuels & waste resources.

  10. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    May 31, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    I’m so ready to abolish money at this point

  11. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    May 31, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    End over production.
    End forced labor.
    No more evictions from primary residences.
    No one should live in fear of being forced out from the only roof they have

    • Gaasuba Meskhenet

      May 31, 2022 at 5:40 pm

      @Erick I hope you find Jesus

    • Twuan Dixon

      June 1, 2022 at 12:17 am

      @Gaasuba Meskhenet so you physically helped someone today right? Didn’t just…..write an irrelevant comment on YouTube right?

    • Gaasuba Meskhenet

      June 1, 2022 at 12:25 am

      @Twuan Dixon yes. Gtfo

    • Gaasuba Meskhenet

      June 1, 2022 at 12:26 am

      @Twuan Dixon and screw whatever comments you put that got deleted

  12. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    May 31, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    You think you’re going to convince the people who work their employees into a deep sense of hopelessness are gonna change? You’re gonna suddenly get the 1% to have a soul?

    We must stand together.
    No more evictions from primary residences.
    Give people the security to say no to working for heartless employers and destructive corporations

    • Karim Alameddine

      May 31, 2022 at 7:17 pm

      @Gaasuba Meskhenet Slave labor is bad and it is not necessarily tied to having money and wealth,… this is very simplistic analysis. The more mature our examinations are the better chances we have to deal with these problems. 🙂

    • Gaasuba Meskhenet

      May 31, 2022 at 8:55 pm

      ​@Karim Alameddine sure…. wish in one hand for the 1% to change their sinning ways and never think about ways we could circumvent their massive influence over the fate of humanity……

    • Paz Reyes

      May 31, 2022 at 10:55 pm

      @Gaasuba Meskhenet cope comi

    • Gaasuba Meskhenet

      May 31, 2022 at 11:01 pm

      @Paz Reyes what

    • Twuan Dixon

      June 1, 2022 at 12:13 am

      @Gaasuba Meskhenet what hyper specific not necessarily associated crqp are you rambling about? 🤣 do you just comment this on anything? Tik tok….skate videos…..fail videos lol

    • Karim Alameddine

      June 1, 2022 at 2:03 am

      @Gaasuba Meskhenet I’m not wishing for the 1% to change. I’m wishing and hoping for people like you and I, the 99% with massive influence, to change 🙂🌷

  13. Stephen Coste

    May 31, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    there is nothing wrong with fossile fuel!

  14. Ian Key

    May 31, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    A dangerous mix of fluency, hypocracy and ignorance. Stop listening to Greta and do your homework.

    • Austin R

      June 1, 2022 at 4:06 pm

      Where’s the hypocrisy?

    • Austin R

      June 1, 2022 at 4:29 pm

      @Ian Key I take it you didn’t understand a thing that was said in the video.

  15. Brach Janney

    May 31, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    Ah yes, genocide by resource destruction. A holodomor for the new millennium.

  16. AlWasz

    May 31, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    Lack of logic in this video is astounding.

  17. The Rogue of Space

    May 31, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    “1Banks, 2 Banks, 3 Banks, 4..” Sounds like a 50 Cent song 😃 Brilliant presentation & thank you for your incredible work, Lucie Pinson 🙏🏽

  18. Giovanni Dan Luca

    May 31, 2022 at 6:56 pm

    Can you make a video explaining how beginners can make huge profit within a short period of time? I mean i was at a seminar and the host spoke about making well over $880,000 within 4months of investing $150,000 i just need to know how…

    • Gold Barry

      May 31, 2022 at 7:01 pm

      @Morgan Stefan that’s amazing

    • Giovanni Dan Luca

      May 31, 2022 at 7:01 pm

      @Morgan Stefan this is great. i’ve always been told that investing with an expert has it advantage but i have no idea how to find one. so how do i reach him please?

    • Morgan Stefan

      May 31, 2022 at 7:02 pm

      @Giovanni Dan Luca he assist investor by guiding them, look his name up, Alex l orloff, on the internet and send him a message.

    • John Cris

      May 31, 2022 at 7:02 pm

      try Alex l orloff, he is very good. he is way better than other traders i have tried. my portfolio has increased to 270,000 already

    • Giovanni Dan Luca

      May 31, 2022 at 7:03 pm

      @Morgan Stefan Ok, just found his website, impressive, Thank you

  19. GoogiPaw1

    May 31, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    The world is at least 50 years away from being able to sustain its current energy requirements with any of the existing alternative energy sources except nuclear. We can’t destroy fossil fuel without a viable replacement and without China and India decreasing its carbon footprint and excluding china by calling them a developing nation is absurd.

    • Jordan Etherington

      June 2, 2022 at 4:10 pm

      So this is about decreasing reliance on fossil fuels through funding research into alternative energy sources. This is how we become able to sustain current energy needs with non-fossil fuel sources. This binary “It either has to work perfectly immediately or it’s not worth attempting” thinking is not helpful. I also don’t see what the purpose of referring to China and India is when this is is a discussion of western banks and their investment practices.

    • GoogiPaw1

      June 3, 2022 at 4:14 pm

      @Jordan Etherington It’s about not penalizing our most useful and efficient energy source before we have a replacement. Research by all means but don’t shoot all of the horses before we invent the automobile. We get oil from foreign sources when we can produce all we need. That’s economic stupidity and their oil leaves a bigger carbon footprint than our homeland exploration.

    • Jordan Etherington

      June 3, 2022 at 4:25 pm

      @GoogiPaw1 That would damage a lot of the natural environment and kill a lot of wildlife, which has consequences not just in terms of animal lives, but also long-term quality of life for human inhabitants. For example, deforestation increases soil erosion which makes flooding more severe and common.

    • GoogiPaw1

      June 3, 2022 at 6:07 pm

      @Jordan Etherington Excuse me Jordan,
      So you’re in favor our economy going bust buying oil, gas and rare earth, elements from foreign countries to save an environment that will inevitably belong to China, Japan or OPEC. We can’t save ANY of our environment if we aren’t energy independent, economically stable and fiscally responsible. I repeat.. Punishing fossil fuel driven energy does make this ” Either…Or'” situation.

    • Jordan Etherington

      June 3, 2022 at 7:51 pm

      @GoogiPaw1 Considering that the economy won’t matter that much if I can’t breath or grow food, yes I would prioritize the environment over the economy.

    • GoogiPaw1

      June 3, 2022 at 8:25 pm

      @Jordan Etherington As you wish. We’ll just cancel each other’s vote. Be safe.

  20. TheTacticalBarrage

    May 31, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    She should be thrown into jail.
    Environmental extortionest and a threat to national securities around the world.

  21. 💰 Make $750 Per Day

    May 31, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    “No masterpiece was ever created by a lazy artist.” —Anonymous

  22. Ninja 12 Lawbreaker

    May 31, 2022 at 9:50 pm

    I recently heard, that is this month about Germany re opening coal mines. What a ‘kin joke

    • Jan Kowalski

      June 3, 2022 at 12:27 am

      They closed all but three of their nuclear power plants so with no gas from ruSSia they have no option.

  23. William Arrington

    May 31, 2022 at 10:04 pm

    We invest and they make us money.. why would I not want them to put my money into the best thing. When even Elon Musk is saying we need to increase oil production.. your wrong

    • WhatsApp㊉⓵⓽⓪⓽⓹⓶⓽⓼⓺⓻⓸

      May 31, 2022 at 11:14 pm

      📩🆙📲 you can write to us directly

  24. William Arrington

    May 31, 2022 at 10:04 pm

    We invest and they make us money.. why would I not want them to put my money into the best thing. When even Elon Musk is saying we need to increase oil production.. your wrong. Also your talk is all well and good until you google anything your talking about. April 2nd… RTE (france electrical company) asked people not to use power because they can only produce 65,000 mw and useage was supposed to be 73,000 MW…. Thats an issue. Your are demonizing coal while others are doing it to nuclear which is actually the cleanest energy we can make… its actually cleaner than solar which is crazy. a lot of people don’t get that because they dont bother to look. Its based on mining, production then e-waste at the end. So the real question is.. when someone’s grandmother experiences a power outage because you guys pushed for this and dies because there is no heat or AC… where does the family send the paperwork for the lawsuit? Renewables should be the front and used first but you have to have enough grid behind it when things do not go as planed.

  25. Nexus Six

    May 31, 2022 at 10:24 pm

    The more we slow oil production the higher gas prices get and the richer dictators like Putin around the world get because we have to import more.

    • WhatsApp㊉⓵⓽⓪⓽⓹⓶⓽⓼⓺⓻⓸

      May 31, 2022 at 11:13 pm

      📩🆙📲 you can write to us

    • Redman_10t

      June 1, 2022 at 6:57 pm

      That is a serious concern that needs to be addressed but we can circumvent that by investing more in green energy. After all, you don’t have to import oil from dictators if you aren’t reliant on it in the first place. It’s why Putin is trying so hard to stop people from supporting green energy.

    • Nexus Six

      June 1, 2022 at 9:05 pm

      @Redman_10t green energy cannot supply 24 hour demand.

    • Redman_10t

      June 1, 2022 at 9:20 pm

      @Nexus Six There are more types of green energy than just solar; wind, nuclear (though it has its fair share of problems), hydro, and geothermal are all green and have the potential to address the shortcomings of solar. Additionally, existing green energy is constantly being improved upon and are being made more efficient, and fossil fuel development is stagnating. Furthermore, new types of green energy are still being invented and developed; hydrogen and fusion are some prominent examples.

    • Jan Kowalski

      June 3, 2022 at 12:25 am

      @Nexus Six
      Green energy is poor quality energy. Especially made from light and wind. It’s not 24/7/365 and power output is unpredictable. Not to say that electricity is hard to store and usually should be consumed at the same time it’s produced.

  26. THATMOFODIRT

    June 1, 2022 at 1:03 am

    How about stop pushing the anti fossil fuel climate change agenda until the ones telling us what to do actually do it themselves?

  27. Ne mo

    June 1, 2022 at 1:50 am

    Thanks to her, Chinaese companies would get ACM in Australia and great profits.

  28. Steve Anderson

    June 1, 2022 at 2:29 am

    Millions of people will die if you shut down our economies by getting rid of the internal combustion engine all at once.

  29. Jim Kuchler

    June 1, 2022 at 2:44 am

    Spoken like a classic emotionally driven activist. Her methods are just university ideology. “Just a little blackmail..”? That’s overflowing with integrity and credibility..

    Banks…? Like banks are some ambiguous evil organization of non-persons….

    This is a great way for average folks to increase their cost of living, reduce their quality of life and destroy their retirement.

    I’d like to know the energy supply chain and production processes that she benefited from in the clothes she wore to this talk, how she traveled to the talk, the food she ate that day, the energy used to power the venue, and to produce the technology used to broadcast this talk. This sort of hyperbole and hubris is naive and ignorant of the complexity of energy industry and society’s benefit from and dependency on fossil fuel.

    Fossil fuels are foundational to all developed countries and have been the foundational energy source for developing countries. We can leverage technology and innovation to make fossil fuels cleaner, safer and even more reasonably priced. This is part of a balanced energy (all types – fossil, nuclear bio and renewable) production, transmission and distribution system. By investing in fossil fuels “Banks” (and thereby every day people) are investing in prosperity, quality of life and a better future for everyone.

    • GoogiPaw1

      June 1, 2022 at 2:51 pm

      Perfectly stated. Thanks.

    • bla blup

      June 1, 2022 at 7:15 pm

      I think she has no idea how a bank works…

    • Twuan Dixon

      June 2, 2022 at 2:32 pm

      Theyre a dime a dozen nowdays.

  30. Jacob Deathridesonalia

    June 1, 2022 at 2:52 am

    Global warming could be possibly explained exactly what I will say bring a trained ase certified mechanic oil is a lubricant serves many purposes one for controlling friction which control heat which putting metal against metal what happens when heat over take the molecules of metal to weld together and another thing it cools down parts from over heating. Now here where I am going to piss you off hunny

  31. Jacob Deathridesonalia

    June 1, 2022 at 2:56 am

    I wouldn’t recommend you try bang when excuse my way I view things if it doesn’t stay lubed one might say something like I am sorry your too dry

  32. Jacob Deathridesonalia

    June 1, 2022 at 2:56 am

    I gain nothing by lying

  33. stereomike111

    June 1, 2022 at 5:24 am

    why? society would grind to a halt without oil. it’s not just fuel.

  34. Qwerty

    June 1, 2022 at 10:55 pm

    Finance is just the illumination of symptoms babe 👊🏽

  35. N Mce

    June 2, 2022 at 1:26 am

    Yes you need coal to smelt metals. And yes you need fossil fuels to produce single use plastics for medical supplies and lubricants for machinery and fuel for people who live in arctic regions. This is just ignorant and naive.

  36. Alec Holland

    June 2, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    Finance/banks put money in many bad stuff. Like illegal palmoil extraction, even drug traffic (remember HSBC and CITI years ago)

  37. Steven Kraft

    June 3, 2022 at 12:24 am

    The oil and gas industry is huge, and aside from gasoline for internal combustion automobiles, that industry provides key feedstocks for lots of other industries people don’t want to see hurt–pharmaceuticals, medical devices, (I worked for a medical device firm, and I know how much medical-grade plastic can go into those devices) electric automobiles, aircraft, fertilizers (so you can grow food for 7 billion people), and transportation of that food once it comes off the farm. So even if this speaker’s ideas take hold in the broader financial sector, it will only create a huge opportunity for multiple boutique petroleum industry-specific business and investment banks to fill the gap left by the big banks she wants to press into service on this issue.

    • Steven Kraft

      June 4, 2022 at 12:47 am

      @Ninja 12 Lawbreaker Hydrogen would be just as popular as natural gas, but there are several problems. One–it is far more energy-intensive to produce than natural gas is. Two, because of its small molecular size, hydrogen escapes containment or piping much more easily than natural gas or other petroleum gases like butane or propane. So your expensively-produced hydrogen wants to literally get out of storage or piping and escape into space. Third, hydrogen is much less useful as a feedstock for things like plastics or other chemicals and fertilizers than natural gas or petroleum is.

      Sure, hydrogen is much less environmentally destructive to consume as a fuel for combustion engines or turbines. But there are lots of good economic reasons that natural gas is cheaper and more useful than hydrogen is.

  38. Old Testament

    June 3, 2022 at 12:42 am

    1st green energy is not Green a 40 year environmentalist Ted talk
    2nd oil is used in 85% of the products we buy so oil is not going away
    3rd electric car are charged from coal oil and natural gas power plants and are made with oil plastic is oil.
    4th only 10% of the world’s power comes from green energy and it will not replace oil because of inconsistent and unreliable output.
    5th because of lack of investment in pipelines, refineries, Natural gas terminal at ports we are burning more carbon to ship and transport carbon.
    6th planting trees is the best way to reduce carbon emissions
    7th green energy technologies are not ready to support our energy consumption unless our population is reduced drastically
    8th New Nuclear power is the only way to solve the problem sodium reactors but no one is talking about it very safe and clean
    9th green energy is con game for special interest groups when you dig into the numbers people make alot of money off it and it’s fashionable
    10th Climate change is Real

  39. Debra Kyle

    June 4, 2022 at 11:53 pm

    Success is dependent on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Show me a man who doesn’t have an investment, and i will tell you how soon he will go broke. Investment is building a safe heaven for the future. With the right choice of Investment that has at least 1% minimum risk and with an expert guidance profit and Intrest is 100% guaranteed.

    • Christian Moeller

      June 5, 2022 at 12:13 am

      @Gabrielle Williams T. Kevin is well accredited like I said, he is trustworthy in all he does and also his investing execution are quality and profiting aswell, structured with great financial features.

    • Christian Moeller

      June 5, 2022 at 12:14 am

      @Gabrielle you can communicate with him on telegam with the user name below.

    • Christian Moeller

      June 5, 2022 at 12:14 am

      @Gabrielle Earnwithkevin.

    • Bruise Lincoln

      June 5, 2022 at 12:24 am

      I’m also investing with Williams T. Kevin too, he understands every beginners intention and fix you to an investment plan that best matches your capital.

    • Megan Cheryl

      June 5, 2022 at 12:34 am

      Oh its great to see someone who also benefit’s from the services of Williams Kevin indeed it’s a small world. He is my investment manager and mentor too for 2 years and still counting and I have made profit of 123,795 usd from my initial amount of 10,100 usdwith him managing my investment portfolio.

  40. Linda Matteo

    June 5, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    Very insightful video!! I do not want to repeat the same mistakes I made last year. This year I will like to invest my social security and participate in great opportunities, to help me me prepare for retirement. please can someone share long-term investment ideas? ❤️

    • Linda Matteo

      June 5, 2022 at 4:28 pm

      @Monika Ingrid please how can I connect to Eula Roswell?

    • Monika Ingrid

      June 5, 2022 at 5:06 pm

      @Linda Matteo You can look her up on the web with her full name below as she is SEC regulated..

    • Monika Ingrid

      June 5, 2022 at 5:06 pm

      *EULA ROSWELL DIGITAL*

    • Sunil kalla

      June 5, 2022 at 5:45 pm

      they actually make lot of changes on a portfolio generally. A financial advisor gives you peace, I’ve had numerous firsthand experience and understanding of how the markets really works coupled with a portfolio growth of $670k in 2years, I’ll say they are quite important…

    • Linda Matteo

      June 5, 2022 at 6:09 pm

      @Monika Ingrid Tnx so much, I just looked up your investment professional and found her page. Her experience is pretty impressive- I wrote her and I’m waiting on her reply.

  41. Samuel Zev

    June 6, 2022 at 12:38 am

    Amazing there are still butt hurt fossil fuel loving science deniers in the comments. Whatever they espouse, it’s failing. Rapid advancements in technology have made green energy cheaper in some countries and the fossil fuel performance in cars is obsolete

  42. ricky

    June 6, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    Come to Hwange in Zimbabwe and meet the people who are impacted by your campaign to defund coal. They’d love to show you around.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending

Exit mobile version