Guest post by Yann Louvel, Climate and Energy Campaigner, BankTrack.

Private banks are the first to claim to fight climate change - but do they put their money where their mouth is? That’s exactly what we, a group of NGOs (the german Urgewald, the South African's Groundwork, Earth Life and the international network BankTrack decided to look for last year, analyzing the investments of the world’s largest banks in the coal industry, the major culprit in the drama of climate change. And the answer to that question is… NO.

James Angel, campaigns and policy intern

Remember 2008? After decades of unchecked greed and corruption, the neoliberal house of cards finally toppled over, leaving us with the worst economic crisis since the great depression. The big banks have been gambling with our money for years but, as we all know, the costs of the crisis – the unemployment, the lost homes, the austerity measures – have been borne by us.