Report
Dirty money –
The 10 banks still funding
the climate crisis
Introduction
The world’s leading climate and energy bodies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency are clear: to avoid catastrophic warming in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, the world urgently needs to change course and rapidly phase out the production and burning of fossil fuels in favour of cleaner, renewable energy. New and expanded fossil fuels projects are not compatible with a safe climate.
Despite Australia’s big five banks – ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie, NAB and Westpac – having all pledged support to the goals of the Paris Agreement, these financial institutions continue to pour billions into fossil fuel companies and projects expanding their polluting operations.
“Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C … pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change;”
“This Agreement… aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by: Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions
and climate-resilient development.”
Paris Agreement, Article 2.1 (a) and (c)
The gap between these climate commitments and the banks’ financing decisions is particularly consequential in Australia, where continued investment in fossil fuel expansion has serious global implications that stretch far beyond the country’s borders.
Australia is the world’s third largest exporter of fossil fuels. At the end of 2025, Australia had over 90 major coal, oil and gas projects currently in the development pipeline.
In the global fight to combat climate change, what happens in Australia matters, and what Australian banks choose to fund can have outsized implications for our planet.
Many Australians may not realise their bank is financing developments that worsen climatechange, or that other banks may better align with their values. This Market Forces analysis and the Compare Banks tool allows customers to easily compare banks’ fossil fuel financing, raise concerns directly with their bank and explore options that align with their values and don’t cost
the earth.
Key findings
- New Market Forces analysis reveals that 10 banks operating in Australia provided $88.51 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2025, a 15% increase on 2024.
- The research finds that an overwhelming majority – 74 out of 91 – of Australian retail banks do not provide any finance to coal, oil and gas.
- Three banks headquartered in Australia – ANZ, Macquarie and Westpac – stand out as financing a new wave of fossil fuel expansion despite being committed to the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and the scientific community imploring that the world rapidly phase out coal, oil and gas.
- ANZ remains Australia’s biggest fossil fuel funder, committing $3.5 billion in 2025, with Macquarie surging into second place at $2.5 billion. Together, they accounted for 56% of fossil fuel financing by Australia’s five major banks.
- Macquarie’s fossil fuel financing jumped 34% in 2025, while its reported oil and gas exposure tripled (200% increase) between 2022 and 2025, in contrast to a marked decline in funding from Australia’s big four banks.
- New financing deals reveal ANZ, Westpac and Macquarie are backing fracking companies drilling for gas in the Beetaloo Basin, Northern Territory.
- Commonwealth Bank and NAB continue financing APA Group, a company planning one of Australia’s biggest gas pipelines, connecting Beetaloo gas fracking fields to Queensland’s export facilities and potentially unleashing one of the world’s largest gas developments.
- Five international banks providing retail services in Australia committed $77.6 billion to fossil fuels in 2025, led by Bank of China ($29 billion), HSBC ($25.1 billion) and ING ($18.6 billion).
- Customers of seven smaller banking brands – Bankwest, UBank, Suncorp Bank, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, RAMS and St. George Bank – may not realise their bank is owned by a major fossil fuel financier.
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