What can we learn from pigs about sustainable finance?

After the year-end festivities, January is typically a month characterized by financial constraints. For many, it feels like a long, depressing month (Blue Monday is supposedly the gloomiest day of the year). Many people are concerned with not overspending or saving money and after a frivolous time in December, year ahead planning and good resolutions (often later dropped) take over. In the process, setting some money aside for specific projects and/or bad days often becomes an objective, the more simple option to do this being the use of a piggy bank. 

600 years ago, before modern banks existed, people put spare coins in a jar called a Pygg in Old English.  But piggy banks were not exclusive to this function. In the 14th century, in Java, Indonesia, boar shaped pots with a slit were also used to store cash. Similarly, the Chinese zodiac pig sign is a symbol of wealth and prosperity, among other things.

Much more recently a piggy bank, along with a smart meter, graced the cover of the the report ‘Accelerating clean energy banking for consumers’. This research reviewed 144 mainstream banks, across 6 regions and 53 nations. It found that half the banks observed, had dedicated financial products available for consumers, enabling and incentivizing the purchase of clean energy, such as household solar panels, heat pumps, energy efficiency measures or electric cars. A quarter of the banks had preferential offers, so individuals and small businesses could access cheaper finance (for instance lower interest rates, advice services, etc.). Like a piggy bank, this is a way to help consumers save money.

The role of incentives

Credible incentives can play a large role in prompting voluntary action on sustainable finance. Natwest’s collectible piggy banks created incentives for kids, both financial and non financial, to learn about money and to understand basic finances (alongside first experience and understanding that life is not free). Piggy banks also help kids to learn about dealing with spare money they earn or receive and start making financial decisions, in particular saving money potentially for a large purchase or for their future. Credit Suisse’s Digipigi did something similar in the more modern era, alongside with an app.

"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

In general financial markets are very short term oriented. This feature is considered as one of the underlying causes of the financial crisis in 2008/9 according to the Kaye Report. Sustainable finance on the other hand requires a long-term commitment from both financial institutions and their clients. Patient capital, long-term oriented can however be really hard to obtain in today’s instant gratification culture. It feels like the kid's behavior, more prone to spend its earnings immediately on sweets rather than saving it into his piggy bank.

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ― Winston S. Churchill

Stories about pigs

Then maybe pigs can help us here too.  As well as the piggy banks and reports above, one blog outlines ways the TV show Peppa Pig teaches us about the value of a dollar.  

At a more macro level, according to a recent Oxfam report, the world could soon have its first trillionaire. Many large multinational companies are also extremely wealthy holding phenomenal amounts of cash and investments. It is however important for the wealthy to consider carefully how to rationally allocate or lend (even share) money to the real economy. Are goals to solely accumulate more wealth? And, what are the unintended consequences for people and the planet in the long-term?

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.”

―George Orwell, Animal Farm

Stories such as Animal Farm, famous for the pig characters Napoleon and Snowball, can provide ways for us to reflect on the world. On a deeper and philosophical level, we should consider where power, money and influence sit today, looking at the more than required reform for the global economy, with a way more longer-term outlook. Thinking as well about fairness and justice, and addressing the very central question of who should pay (at least a bit more) for common goals.

Rebecca Self is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Seawolf Sustainability Consulting, more information is available via www.seawolfsustain.com.

Cover photo of Pig, credit: 15794493 © Koya79 | Dreamstime.com