Wednesday 18 December: Farmers across Australia have joined hundreds of shareholders calling on NAB and all big four Australian banks to end finance for companies expanding coal, oil and gas production.
The calls by farmers come as NAB – which calls itself the ‘leading Agribusiness bank’ in Australia – faces a resolution from more than 100 shareholders and Market Forces at its annual general meeting in Melbourne, demanding the bank demonstrates how its fossil fuel finance aligns with global climate goals.
Kyle Robertson, Senior Banks Analyst, Market Forces said:
“By continuing to lend money to companies developing new gas projects like Santos, NAB is actively fuelling the climate crisis.”
“The science shows that Australian agriculture is seriously threatened by climate change. Why is NAB still funding companies supercharging damage to farming businesses with coal, oil and gas expansion?”
Grazier Peter Lake, who farms cattle and feed crops in northern NSW near Grafton said:
“In recent years, our family farming business has been threatened by repeated crop failures due to droughts and record floods, and we’ve been forced to sell many of our cattle.”
“It’s time NAB and other big banks take a stand and cease support for companies enabling new coal and oil projects, harming the climate, our farms and businesses.”
Deanna Fernance, farmer and environmental scientist said:
“Three generations live on our family farm and we accept extreme weather is part of life but for the last five years, we’ve had no rest between record breaking drought, heatwaves, bushfires, floods and storms.“
“How many more extremes will my kids live through before they even leave home?”
“How great would our landscape, our Country be if big banks ended finance for fossil fuel companies and instead invested in clean energy, land and water stewardship?“
“We can learn to live without fossil fuels but we can’t live without a safe environment, good soil and clean water.”
Karrinjeet Singh-Mahil, dairy farmer from western Victoria and teacher said:
“At the corporate level, NAB, like all the big banks, needs to consider how their lending to companies developing more fossil fuels undoes any good work they may be doing for farmers at the community level.”
“The big banks need to stop lending to coal, oil and gas companies damaging our climate and our farming businesses.”
Shareholders have joined with Market Forces and Australian Ethical to file resolutions at Westpac and NAB. Market Forces has also lodged a resolution at ANZ, all demanding the banks demonstrate how their finance for fossil fuel companies will align with global climate goals.
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