18 October 2022 Last Wednesday was a very sad day for climate action. Almost 95% of Commonwealth Bank’s shareholders – including our super funds – voted against a critical request for the bank to stop financing new and expansionary fossil fuel projects. We’re...
CommBank chair says companies without transition plans by 2025 “un-bankable” at 2022 AGM
12 October 2022 Today, Commonwealth Bank faced a formal proposal from shareholders asking it to demonstrate how the company’s financing would not be used for the purposes of new or expanded fossil fuel projects. Despite trying to appear to be acting on climate change,...
Big four Australian banks face shareholder climate backlash at AGMs
MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday 11 October 2022: Shareholder resolutions have been lodged with ANZ, NAB and Westpac calling on the banks to stop financing coal, oil and gas expansion. The resolutions, lodged by hundreds of shareholders and coordinated by environmental...
Malaysian banks need to dump coal for a safer climate
OPINION | Nabilla Gunawan, Indonesia Campaigner Everyday, I see thick, grey smog across Jakarta’s skyline. I see this coal pollution that kills people in my city, Jakarta. The climate crisis is much more than a distant concern on the horizon. Millions of people across...
NAB refinances the climate-wrecking Coastal GasLink pipeline
NAB has once again failed to match its rhetoric and commitments on climate change with real action, refinancing a new gas pipeline project in Canada. At its 2021 annual general meeting (AGM) NAB Chairman Phil Chronican told shareholders and Traditional Owners that its...
Commonwealth Bank faces shareholder resolution after climate policy leaves door open to fossil fuel expansion
MEDIA RELEASE: Wednesday 10 August 2022 Environmental finance campaigning organisation Market Forces has responded to Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s latest climate report and targets with a shareholder resolution, calling on the bank to ensure its financing no...
Legal advice says Deutsche Bank breaching own coal policy by financing companies building new coal mines
10 August 2022 As a lender to Whitehaven Coal and Adani Enterprises, both companies investing heavily in expanding thermal coal mining, Deutsche Bank has been a financial institution of concern for some time. However the bank’s 2020 policy on thermal coal mining,...
Westpac: climate change commitments one week, financing climate-wreckers the next?
2 August 2022 Last week, Westpac announced it was joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and made some further climate change commitments that still fail to demonstrably align with the Paris Agreement’s goals. As Westpac made the announcement, another part of the...
Behind Bangladesh’s carbon catastrophe
OPINION | Munira Chowdhury, Acting Research Coordinator When I mention Bangladesh, people think of a country prone to devastating floods and cyclones. It’s true. Right now, millions of Bangladeshis are stranded without safe drinking water and food after the worst...
Win! Credit Suisse rules out Whitehaven Coal
Climate-wrecking coal company Whitehaven Coal received a $1 billion loan in February 2020 from a group of major banks, including European investment bank Credit Suisse. Late last year, Credit Suisse updated its policy on thermal coal mining, clearly excluding...