HESTA has finally responded to an open letter delivered in September, calling on the fund to publicly divest from Woodside. Yet HESTA’s response has completely failed to address members’ concerns while letting climate wrecker Woodside off the hook for continuing to expand fossil fuels.
In response to pressure from members like you, HESTA put oil and gas company Woodside on a public ‘watchlist’ last year, asking it to demonstrate how its new or proposed fossil fuel projects fit within a 1.5°C emissions reduction scenario. Yet the science is clear that emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure will already take us past 1.5°C of warming, let alone emissions from new projects being built by climate wreckers like Woodside.
Woodside’s reckless pursuit of new oil and gas projects is clearly out of line with what climate scientists have been telling us for years, yet the company made the decision only four months ago to open up a new oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, called Trion.
How did HESTA respond to this egregious decision by Woodside? It didn’t.
The open letter signed by yourself and more than 500 other members explained: “Woodside’s decision to go ahead with Trion shows it has failed to heed HESTA’s requests for 1.5°C alignment and increased pressure. The fund must now implement its escalation framework to the fullest extent.”
The letter also called for HESTA to “…publicly denounce Woodside’s decision to sanction Trion and publish a timeframe for divestment from Woodside,” as the final step in HESTA’s ‘escalation framework’ is divestment.
HESTA’s response (which you can read below) failed to address the concerns raised by yourself and other members, including failing to outline consequences for Woodside for continuing to pursue new climate-wrecking oil and gas projects like Trion. Worse still, HESTA has not indicated a clear timeframe for divestment from Woodside, despite the company’s failure to align its business plans with a 1.5°C pathway.
HESTA can no longer get away with ignoring member concerns and staying silent while the companies it invests in keep approving new fossil fuel projects.
Take action!
Lodge a formal complaint and demand HESTA escalates pressure on Woodside by publishing a timeframe for divestment.