VicSuper: Protect ALL Members From Climate Change Risks

22 February 2016 We have heard from some of their members that VicSuper are currently considering how they treat the issue of climate change, and the myriad of financial and moral issues wrapped up in it. After seeing a host of other funds mistakenly “tackle” this issue by screening out … Read More

The polluting power of political donations

1 February 2016 Federal Treasury on Friday published the 2015 Tax Expenditure Statement (TES), which details the cost of all the various tax-based subsidies under current policy. It’s by no means a riveting read, and we wouldn’t recommend you trawl through it yourself. Instead, we’ve put in the hard yards … Read More

Time to tell Australia’s insurers to ditch coal

28 January 2016 Around the world, pressure is building on the insurance industry to divest from fossil fuels, while back home we are ramping up our campaign to stop Australia’s major insurers shooting themselves in the foot by investing in climate change’s drivers. In the latest international development, California’s Insurance Commissioner on … Read More

Did Vision Super divest on the quiet?

15 December 2015 Early last week, Vision Super posted a press release on their website announcing their commitment to sustainable investment. Vision Super also updated their website, adding a page dedicated to “Sustainable Super” and the calming image of a wind farm on its home page. This was followed by … Read More

The cost of HESTA’s half-arsed divestment? $165 million

26 November 2015 HESTA is an industry super fund for health and community services workers, managing around $32 billion for 800,000 odd members. In September last year, HESTA made a welcome announcement restricting future thermal coal investments across its portfolios. But the divestment was limited to just a fraction of … Read More

Australia reluctantly agrees to OECD coal finance restrictions

18 November 2015 Finance ministers from the OECD group of wealthy nations have reached an agreement to stop financing the highest polluting new coal power plants. Originally proposed by Japan and the US, the deal ensures that all new coal plants will only eligible for OECD government finance if they … Read More

New report puts the spotlight back on fossil fuel subsidies

12 November 2015 The huge ongoing problem of governments around the world pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel production has been brought back into the spotlight by a new report published by US-based Oil Change International and the UK’s Overseas Development Institute. Titled Empty promises: G20 subsidies to … Read More