Australians are sceptical about the ESG claims their banks make and almost three-quarters would consider changing their banking and superannuation accounts to another provider if they found their financial institution was investing in companies that are inconsistent with their values.

These are among the key findings of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia’s latest consumer research, From Values to Riches 2022, conducted by Lonergan Research.

The great majority of respondents (83 per cent) said they expected their bank and their super fund to invest responsibly and ethically, and 80 per cent wanted their savings to have a “positive impact”.

Top of the impact list is climate change. The environmental themes most often referred to were renewable energy and energy efficiency, sustainable water management and healthy river and ocean ecosystems.

Eighty-four per cent said it was important for their bank and super fund to make a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, 83 per cent wanted their financial institutions to have targets for emissions reductions and 81 per cent wanted to them commit to net-zero by 2050.

Issues such as human rights abuses and animal cruelty are growing in importance. Other ESG themes that came up in the survey include healthcare and public health, support for employment and social infrastructure.

They survey also shows consumers want more transparency from their financial services providers. Seventy-two per cent said they were concerned their financial institution’s responsible investment claims were ‘greenwashing’.

Sixty-five per cent do not believe their bank’s claims about their responsible investing and lending.

Consumers are looking for independently certified products and are not prepared to rely solely on providers’ claims.