l – r, Ray Mears, Chief Al Lameman from the Beaver Lake Cree Nation and Neville Richardson

The Co-operative’s Toxic Fuels campaign aims to highlight the shocking global trend of extracting oil from unconventional sources, such as tar sands and shale oil. Such exploitation threatens global efforts to avoid dangerous levels of climate change and risks local ecological disaster.

As part of this campaign The Co-operative, in conjunction with WWF-UK and Greenpeace have launched Tarnished Earth. Our chief executive, Neville Richardson opened the exhibition which was also attended by Ray Mears and key environmental opinion formers.

The FREE outdoor photo exhibition – a dramatic street gallery of photographs telling the story of one of the world’s biggest ecological disasters, will be open to anyone walking along the morelondon site on London’s Southbank (between London Bridge and Tower Bridge) for four weeks from 14 September. It will then tour the country, making an impact in busy public areas in cities across the UK by Spring 2011.

The striking images show how Canada’s magnificent Boreal Forest is being destroyed and polluted by the rush to extract oil from the tar sands just below the surface.

For more information about Tarnished Earth visit www.co-operative.coop/ethicsinaction.

Manchester | Wednesday 15 September, 6.45pm, Odeon cinema, the Printworks, Manchester

Members of The Co-operative are invited to a special screening of the BBC documentary ‘Tar Wars’ about The Co-operative’s campaigning and support for the Beaver Lake Cree’s battle to protect their ancestral lands from destruction by expanding tar sands developments. The short documentary will be followed by an audience Q&A and drinks reception.

The exploitation of Canada’s tar sands would be sufficient alone to take us to the brink of runaway climate change and risks a local ecological disaster. In addition to emitting three times more greenhouse gases than conventional oil production, its extraction also destroys pristine wilderness, creates lakes of toxic waste and pollutes air and water; with profound consequences for wildlife and indigenous communities such as the Beaver Lake Cree.

This small First Nation community of just 700 people has responded by taking legal action to protect their environment, taking on not just the Governments of Alberta and Canada, but also virtually every major oil company in the world, whose expansion plans for the tar sands could be jeopardised.

This fight is a true David versus Goliath battle, with the lawsuit potentially the only thing between us and runaway climate change.

This is a free event, open to members and staff of The Co-operative, but spaces are limited so please RSVP to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151662231525972&ref=mf

Edinburgh | Friday 17 September, 7.30pm, Dynamic Earth, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS

Find out how desperately chasing the last drop of oil threatens an ecological disaster in Alberta, Canada and risks global runaway climate change.

A talk featuring Chief Al Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, followed by a drinks reception.

Hosted by Social Goals and The Co-operative Membership, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth Scotland, WDM Scotland and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

More details and to RSVP go to:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147332948621073&ref=mf

A pioneering scheme to provide bank accounts for prisoners has reached the 1000 milestone at HMP Forest Bank, Greater Manchester.

Introduced as a pilot project in 2006 by The Co-operative Bank in conjunction with Kalyx, who manage the category B prison in Salford, this innovative partnership approach allows prisons to offer basic bank accounts to prisoners prior to their release and, has been shown to help reduce re-offending rates by around a third.

A study by the Research Unit for Financial Inclusion at Liverpool John Moores University, which analysed re-offending rates at Forest Bank, also highlighted the scheme’s positive impact on promoting social and financial inclusion and the importance of its role with prisoner rehabilitation and resettlement in society.

The 1000^th inmate at Forest Bank to open an account, said: “I’ve never had a bank account before and I’ve never had ID so I couldn’t get an account on the outside. It’s not been easy to get a job and I hope the account will help me – I’ve got my Fork Lift Truck license now and an account to put my wages in, it’s great.”

Access to a bank account is necessary for people to fully participate in modern society. The Co-operative Bank’s pioneering approach has been shown to play an important part in prisoner rehabilitation. Not having an account can jeopardise job opportunities, make obtaining rented housing more difficult and complicate access to education grants – all conditions contributing to re-offending rates with consequences not just for individuals but for society as a whole.

By offering this service, which most take for granted, we are making a positive contribution to the reduction of re-offending rates and helping to tackle social and financial exclusion amongst ex-offenders.

Since the scheme began, The Co-operative Bank has opened almost 5,000 basic bank accounts for prisoners and has relationships with 30 prisons – around one in five of all UK prisons.

The Co-operative Financial Services outperformed 110 financial institutions from 44 countries to win the prestigious Financial Times Sustainable Bank of the Year Award.

This recognises our embedded and all-encompassing approach to sustainability, from our green electricity procurement to our groundbreaking customer campaigns. We’ve shown that an approach which marries strong ethics with competitiveness can deliver outstanding results.

Watch the video to hear from the judges why we won this award, or read the report on our sustainability achievements, which include:

• declining over £1bn of finance opportunities in line with our bank Ethical Policy, whilst at the same time growing commercial lending to £8bn;
• pioneering a customer-led approach, building our unique investments and banking ethical policies around our customers’ concerns;
• leading the way in combating climate change, for example, increasing our lending to the renewable energy sector by £200m.

Let us know if you’d like any further information.

Thousands of woodland caribou once roamed across the Beaver Lake Cree’s traditional territories in Alberta, Canada – now between just 175 and 275 of these iconic animals remain and without immediate protection they face extinction throughout these territories and most of north eastern Alberta.

A symbol of Canada’s pristine wilderness, woodland caribou are found in undisturbed old growth boreal forest and forested peatlands. Habitat that is being degraded and threatened on a huge scale by rapidly expanding tar sands developments throughout the Beaver Lake Cree’s traditional territories.

If the current rates of decline continue the future for the region’s caribou herds looks bleak, with the population dropping to just 50 by 2025, 10 by 2040 and becoming locally extinct shortly thereafter. Given the massive expansion plans for tar sands developments in the area, the likelihood is that without intervention they will disappear much faster. 50 individuals are considered the level below which populations may be non-recoverable.

Woodland caribou are listed as ‘threatened’ nationally under Canada’s Species at Risk Act and within Alberta have been determined to be ‘at risk’. As such the Canadian Government is required by law to prepare a recovery plan that identifies and protects ‘critical habitat’ for this listed species. The Government was required to do this by 2007 – it hasn’t.

Read the Save the caribou – stop the tar sands report

Help save the caribou – play the game! 

Ethical investments have grown by more than three fold in the last 10 years to stand at £10bn, and, today, some three quarters of a million people hold an ethical investment product.Interest in ethical investments and finance has never been higher and to build on this momentum, once again we are to be a key sponsor of National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW), which runs in November.

“In the current climate, there is a groundswell of interest from consumers, businesses and others in the need for ethical and responsible finance and investment. NEIW provides an ideal opportunity to showcase how responsible finance is addressing some of our most pressing challenges, be it climate change or global poverty, and the options that this presents for consumers.” said Tim Franklin, chief operating officer at CFS.

The organisers of NEIW, UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), hope that it can do for ethical money, what Fairtrade Fortnight has achieved for Fairtrade products and move awareness of ethical investment even further into the consciousness of mainstream consumers.

For regular updates on this and more, simply submit your email address at the bottom of this page.

Photo credit: Adrian Dancy

Over the last few months we’ve been keeping you updated on the CIS Tower’s newest residents, the Manchester peregrines. The peregrine couple moved from a secret location in Manchester to the top of the 118 metre tall Grade II-listed building – home of The Co-operative Financial Services, earlier this year.  

After the birth of two peregrine chicks, and the unfortunate loss of one of them, the remaining chick is preparing to leave its parent’s nest for good.

Carolyn Jarvis, People Engagement Manager from RSPB tells us: “The RSPB’s Manchester Peregrine project has been full of excitement from the word-go this season. It took us by complete surprise when the adult peregrines moved nest earlier this year. We still don’t really know why they moved, and we may never know, but who can blame them…what a prime spot!

“We don’t know for sure where the remaining peregrine chick will go when it leaves the nest – peregrine doesn’t mean ‘the wanderer’ for nothing! It’ll stay around until around the end of August or so, then it will be shown ‘the door’ by its parents. It’ll then take a year or two to develop into an adult, then it will find a territory and a mate and hopefully have some chicks of its own.

“The RSPB team – Clare, Hugo, Caroline and Lizzy and all the volunteers, wish to thank CFS for their interest and support. It’s been great talking to staff at the view point in Manchester’s Exchange Square. We also wish to thank Neil Dawson and Ben Downer from CFS – for granting us and BTO access to the building. Also, a big thank you to Adrian Dancy for his AMAZING pictures that we all enjoy so much and all the loyal and dedicated volunteers – we couldn’t do it without them.”

The RSPB is a conservation charity that manages over 100,000 hectares of UK land, developing and maintaining rare, diverse and essential habitat. It also fights endlessly for nature, from conservation battles with developers to addressing governments, both nationally and internationally, about the environment and its needs.

For more information on RSPB activities, events and A Date with Nature go to http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo.

Hopefully we’ll be able to report more peregrine chicks next year!

Below are a few pictures of the peregrine chick taken by bird enthusiast and photographer Adrian Dancy.

For regular updates on this and more, simply submit your email address at the bottom of this page.

Our Sustainability Reporting was recently recognised as world-leading, when The Co-operative was identified as producing one of the top three reports globally.

Photo credit: Adrian Dancy

The two peregrine chicks took their first flights earlier this week but yesterday, in a very sad turn of events, the RSPB received the news that a dead peregrine had been found on a pavement near the CIS Tower.

The young female peregrine, which appeared to have a broken neck, was identified as one of the Manchester chicks by its unique British Trust for Ornithology ring, which had been attached last month.

Clare Reed, the RSPB’s Manchester People Engagement Manager, who runs the Manchester Peregrines Date with Nature project said: “We think that the poor thing was taking its first flight when it collided with a window. It probably got confused when, mistaking the reflection in a window for the sky.

“This is the first instance we have heard of this happening to a peregrine but, unfortunately, it is fairly common for birds to collide with windows.”

Early this week RSPB staff and volunteers at the Date with Nature viewpoint in Exchange Square, Manchester spotted the remaining peregrine chick taking flight with its Mum and Dad.  The surviving chick will leave the nest for good in early July.

The Manchester Peregrine project is run as part of the RSPB’s Date with Nature programme of events, which make rare and spectacular birds accessible for everyone to see. 

Peregrine falcon facts

• The peregrine is the largest of British breeding falcon. It is 38-48 cm long, and its wingspan is 95-110 cm. The female is considerably larger than the male. The upper parts are dark blue-grey, and the under parts are pale with fine, dark bars. The head has a black ‘hood’ with black moustache-like markings on the face. Juvenile birds are browner and heavily streaked below
• Peregrines typically pair for several years and may live up to 10 years old – the oldest on record was 15 years and 6 months ol
• Both adult birds tend the young, which take their first flight after 5 or 6 weeks
• Peregrines feed on medium sized birds, which they catch in high-speed aerial stoops – although more often than not they fail to make a kill
• Peregrine numbers crashed in the 1960s due to the impact of pesticides.  Peregrines have now increased in numbers, to about 1,300 breeding pairs in the UK. 

For regular updates on the Manchester Peregrines and more, simply submit your email address at the bottom of this page.

From the outside a co-operative may look like any other business. It’s what goes on inside that makes us different!

The Co-operative Group is the country’s largest consumer co-operative, and there are over 4,800 independent co-operatives in the UK. From housing to healthcare, farms to football clubs, credit unions to community shops, co-operatives have unique values and principles shaping the way they do business.

And it’s not just in the UK. Across the world co-operatives are an international force for good, with over 800 million members and 100 million employees worldwide.

This year The Co-operative Group including The Co-operative Financial Services, are joining together with co-operators and co-operative businesses across the UK in the very first Co-operatives Fortnight, a celebration of our unique businesses, our values, our people, our innovation and the impact we have on changing business for the good.

Exciting initiatives taking place over the fortnight include:

• The Group’s Inspiring Young People initiative will be launching in London on Tuesday 22 June, supported by The Co-operative Membership Team, and will be highlighting CFS’ financial literacy programme.
• Co-operative Food store events – one in each of its trading regions on Friday 25 June – to showcase the success of the business and highlight its ethical trading and Fairtrade credentials.
• A wide range of inspiring events and activities, including family fun days, ‘Watch Your Waste‘ events, day trips, and more, across the UK – all hosted by The Co-operative Membership.
• The display of the new membership website and social networking site, Hive, at Co-operatives 2010 in Plymouth, and vox pop booths to record members views and ideas about co-operation.
• The launch of ‘The Co-operative LIVE‘ – the Group’s first online interactive TV programme at 6.15pm on Monday 28 June, including a programme about CFS.
• The Co-operative Challenge, where two intrepid members will visit seven co-operatives in seven regions over seven days.

Find out more about The Co-operative Membership Team’s events for Co-operatives Fortnight here. 

For regular updates on Co-operatives Fortnight and more, simply submit your email address at the bottom of this page.