Letter: Why Ski Butlers shifted banks to protect our planet
On the heels of COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and as CEO of Ski Butlers, a ski and snowboard rental delivery company with operations serving 50 ski resorts worldwide, I urge everyone to look into where your money is going if you care about our planet.
Climate change is putting the $887 billion outdoor industry, the landscapes and the wildlife that we love, at risk. Ski Butlers has directly been impacted by climate change — from low snow years resulting in revenue loss and unpredictable weather patterns causing service disruptions.
Despite the climate crisis, our biggest banks are huge funders of the fossil fuel industry. Combined, the world’s 60 top financial institutions financed $751 billion of fossil fuel projects last year and a staggering $3.8 trillion dollars since the Paris Agreement. In 2020 alone, JPMorgan Chase provided $51.3 billion in capital to fossil fuel companies for projects including the Tar Sands, Arctic oil and gas exploration and fracking.
As a result, Ski Butlers is proud to announce that we have divested all company assets from JPMorgan Chase and moved to KeyBank. Over the past decade, I have made it a priority to shift our business decisions with climate front of mind. My journey has resulted in a multi-prong approach from education and advocacy, to direct investment in solar and electrifying delivery vans, to carbon reporting and reduction strategies.
The decision to not support banks that finance fossil fuels and at the same time support banks that do finance clean energy was an easy choice, but difficult to execute. Banks work diligently at capturing and retaining your business, but divestment from fossil fuels will be one of the biggest drivers behind solving the climate crisis.
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If Ski Butlers can do it, so can you, and I urge you all to not wait.
Bryn Carey, CEO of Ski Butlers
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