8 November 2018 Cooper Energy – an Australian gas and oil exploration and production company – was questioned at its annual general meeting (AGM) today about how climate change would affect its business. Oil and gas companies are clearly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including global policy decisions … Read More
CommBank: All talk, still no walk on fossil fuel finance
Brisbane, 7 November 2018 At today’s Commonwealth Bank annual general meeting (AGM), chairwoman Catherine Livingstone told shareholders she believed it was unlikely the bank would finance any new ‘greenfield’ fossil fuels proposals. Such projects include coal mines, oil and gas fields, and fossil fuel infrastructure built on completely new sites. “It’s … Read More
Bendigo & Adelaide customers in drought, bank still won’t spell it out
30 October 2016 Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is the fifth largest retail bank in Australia and among the top 100 ASX-listed companies. They have a fairly clean record when it comes to fossil fuel investments as they don’t lend to projects in the coal and coal seam gas sectors. But … Read More
Major banks are failing Vietnam by violating Equator Principles commitments in financing coal power projects
2018 The Equator Principles (EPs) are a global set of voluntary standards that financial institutions sign on to – so that in financing large scale projects, they don’t harm people and the environment. Market Forces, working with Vietnamese community organisations and other international NGOs, has found that EP signatory banks … Read More
WIN! Standard Chartered rules out new coal…. everywhere!
25 September 2018 Standard Chartered bank today updated its policy on lending to power generation, ruling out new coal power plants anywhere in the world. It confirmed the bank would no longer directly finance “any new coal-fired power plant projects, including expansions, in any location”. This marks a massive shift … Read More
Media Release: Standard Chartered offers leadership on coal and climate change in key energy markets
Tuesday 25 September, 2018: Responding to the news that Standard Chartered has ruled out finance for “any new coal-fired power plant projects, including expansions, in any location“, Market Forces Executive Director Julien Vincent said: “This is what leadership on coal and climate change looks like. Decisions about how the world sources … Read More
Suncorp continues to divest from fossil fuels
20 September 2018 Today Suncorp demonstrated it has climate change firmly on its agenda and confirmed it continues to divest from fossil fuels. The company is one of Australia’s largest insurance providers, a sector recognised as highly exposed to the physical risks posed by climate change, such as weather-related catastrophes. Earlier this year, … Read More
Market Forces files complaint over Japanese banks’ coal lending breach of OECD guidelines
18 September 2018 Market Forces has made complaints against Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mizuho Financial Group (Mizuho) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) to the Japanese National Contact Point (NCP) today. The complaint alleges that the three banks have breached the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) through their conduct … Read More
Japanese bank policies rule out one third of overseas coal plant finance
Market Forces in the media RenewEconomy, 28 August 2018 Bernadette Maheandiran, Market Forces Legal Analyst In a major shift from some of the world’s largest funders of coal power, new policies should rule out financial support to a third of the coal-fired power stations currently under consideration by Japan’s three major … Read More