FoE plan to `name and shame' investors in pollution

Friends of the Earth is sifting the policies of the country's top financial services companies to compile a blacklist of the most environmentally unethical investors.

The group said it would publish a list to "name and shame" banks, building societies and insurers with the worst record for investing people's money in industries that harm the environment.

Such companies invest billions of pounds of people's savings every year and are the lifeblood of much of the world's industry.

Friends of the Earth said it hoped that by publishing the names of the dirtiest investors it would persuade customers to switch their accounts, pressurising the institutions to invest in greener businesses. It would also encourage the polluters themselves to adopt a greener attitude, the group said.