CommBank fails to gaslight shareholders over its gas lending at 2020 AGM

13 October 2020

Today’s annual general meeting (AGM) heard from Commonwealth Bank shareholders who clearly feel the bank isn’t living up to its climate claims and commitments, especially considering its funding for expansion of the gas industry.

Gas lending incompatible with the Paris Agreement

Chairman Catherine Livingstone’s response failed to articulate a set of steps and responsibilities that could reasonably be expected of a process used to determine compatibility with the Paris Agreement.

Instead, Livingstone admitted that the bank’s assessment is based upon “the extent that we believe the proposal will result in a net reduction of emissions”.

The notion that new or expanded fossil fuel projects could somehow ‘reduce’ emissions is absurd for obvious reasons, not least because 25 lead scientists at Australian universities in August stated:

To meet the upper Paris goal (‘well below 2C’), we must achieve net zero emissions by 2040-2050. This requires a rapid phase-out of existing fossil fuel infrastructure, leaving no room for expansion of the gas industry.

The time has passed for any new fossil fuel infrastructure, including the proposed expansion of the gas industry in Australia.

25 leading scientists at Australian universities, 25 August 2020

Based upon Livingstone’s vague description, it’s unclear whether “the extent that [Commonwealth Bank] believe[s] the proposal will result in a net reduction of emissions” is the bank’s only consideration when assessing compliance with the Paris Agreement. If it is, this raises serious concerns about whether Commonwealth Bank has applied and is properly applying the policies contained in its Environmental and Social Framework.

In light of scientists and scientific evidence concluding that there’s no room to expand the gas industry if we’re to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, the bank was asked whether it accepts these findings:

Livingstone’s answer was typically vague and evasive. Instead of addressing the question directly, Livingstone told shareholders the bank supports gas and that “the hope is that we can eventually move to renewables”. Livingstone failed to articulate why the bank would only hope for such an occurrence rather than actively facilitating it, and why it only hoped for this to occur ‘eventually’ given that renewable energy is a financially and commercially competitive source of energy generation today.

Ongoing finance for ‘out of line’ companies defies logic

Market Forces data shows that from 2016-2019, CommBank loaned $1.8 billion to a group of 9 large Australian companies whose business plans are out of line with the Paris Agreement because those companies are either:

1. expanding the scale of the fossil fuel sector; and/or
2. relying on scenarios consistent with the failure of the Paris Agreement to justify their future business prospects.

When asked to explain how CommBank justifies continued funding for such companies in light of the bank’s support for the Paris Agreement, Livingstone said the bank “look[s] at the net reduction in emissions that lending might enable”. Aside from the obviously problematic use of the term ‘might’ in this context, this answer defies logic given that new or expanded fossil fuel projects lead to increased emissions, and that the business plans of these companies rely upon the failure of the Paris Agreement.

Finance for renewable energy lagging competitors

As if the bank’s thinly veiled excuse for funding expansionary gas projects wasn’t bad enough, another shareholder pointed out that, according to NAB’s most recent investor presentation, Commonwealth Bank had funded less renewable energy than each of its direct competitors; ANZ, NAB and Westpac. CommBank was asked whether it should match or better its competitors’ funding for renewables:

Livingstone’s response includes an observation that “the renewable energy sector has no shortage of access to funds”, an acknowledgement that instead of actively seeking out opportunities to enable and fund additional renewable energy projects, the bank has left it to other financial institutions to do the heavy lifting. It’s also an acknowledgement that renewable energy is clearly commercially competitive and a growth industry, making Livingstone’s theory that gas should be a ‘transition’ to renewables all the more dubious.

Fossil fuel exposures (mostly) on the decline

CommBank’s 2020 annual report shows the bank decreased its exposure to gas and coal, but increased its total committed exposure (TCE) to oil by +7% and to ‘oil distribution and refining’ by +41%. Asked whether CommBank plans to reduce its exposure to oil moving forward, as it has done for gas and coal, the bank confirmed that it does:

UPDATE – 14/07/2021

Market Forces notes above that since making its August 2019 commitment to “only [provide] Banking and Financing activity to New oil, gas or metallurgical coal projects … if in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement”, CommBank has participated in numerous lending deals to projects that expand the fossil fuel industry, and companies pursuing expansion of the fossil fuel industry, despite such expansion being inconsistent with the Paris Agreement’s climate goals.

Since publishing this post, Market Forces has uncovered further such lending deals including:

• Commonwealth Bank reportedly acted as Arranger for the extension of a ‘reserves based lending (RBL) facility’ for Siccar Point Energy on 17 December 2020. Siccar’s CEO said the extension of the RBL “provides a solid platform on which to plan our development activities”.(1)(2) Siccar’s development plans include the Cambo oil field, which climate experts and environmental campaigners say should be scrapped, in part because the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recent ‘Net Zero by 2050‘ report found there can be no new oil or gas fields to achieve the net zero by 2050 target.
• Commonwealth Bank reportedly loaned US$16 million to Euronav on 10 September 2020 for four new ‘very large crude carriers’ (VLCCs), which are large marine vessels used for carrying crude oil.(3) With regards to the energy transition, Euronav’s 2020 Annual Report states “…this ‘transition’ will take many years (cfr. Rystad Energy estimate peak oil demand in 2030)”,(4) but does not cite the Production Gap report which finds oil production must decline 4% each year between 2020 and 2030 to limit warming to 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement.

(1) ‘News’, Siccar Point Energy (accessed 14 July 2021)
(2) Refinitiv Eikon Package ID 154087008682
(3) Euronav 2020 Annual Report (p.107, p.111)
(4) ibid (p.97)