What a difference a year (and some runway flooding) makes! Sydney Airport’s chairman Trevor Gerber, has certainly changed his tune on taking climate risk seriously since last year’s annual general meeting. Back then, Gerber didn’t think sea level rise was much to worry about for Australia’s busiest airport. He joked … Read More
Media Release: Japan’s MUFG commits to end financing for new coal projects, NGOs call for further steps
16 May 2019 | Joint release: No Coal Japan Japanese and international environmental NGOs welcomed Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)’s release of its revised environmental and social policy framework, which now excludes finance to new coal power projects. Coming only days after Singapore’s three major banks also ended coal finance, … Read More
Non, merci! Rothschild & Co. walks away from Adani
16 May 2019 In May 2018 it was revealed that French investment bank Rothschild and Co was helping Adani to sell a minority stake in the Abbot Point coal terminal on the North Queensland coast. The terminal would act as the port through which coal from the proposed Carmichael coal … Read More
Japanese megabanks faced with international ad in the Financial Times
NGOs from Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and around the world have placed a full-page advertisement in the Financial Times today calling for Japanese megabanks – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and Mizuho Financial Group (Mizuho) – to stop funding coal power. MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho, along … Read More
Super funds obstructing climate action
In the last two weeks, the vast majority of Australia’s super funds have voted on your behalf: These votes have actively obstructed climate action at some of Australia’s biggest companies. It’s not good enough from super funds that are supposed to act in our best interests. Ask your super fund … Read More
Talanx leaves open loopholes to underwrite Vietnamese coal power
10 May 2019 German insurer Talanx announced last month it planned to stop underwriting new coal power plants and coal mines, and envisages that its portfolio would no longer include any coal-fired power plants or coal mines from 2038 onward. While this sounds good on paper, its policy has significant … Read More
General Electric chooses to ignore clean energy transition
10 May 2019 Yesterday in New York at General Electric’s (GE) annual general meeting, (AGM) shareholders called out their CEO, H. Lawrence Culp Jr., for GE’s role in constructing new coal-fired power stations around the world, jeopardizing its own future viability as an energy company and that of our collective … Read More
QBE leaves door open to oil and gas phase out
QBE Insurance faced a barrage of questions as well as a shareholder resolution calling for the company to set targets to phase out its exposure to all fossil fuels at its annual general meeting on Thursday 9 May. Although QBE took a big step forward in March when it committed … Read More
Adelaide Brighton: not making concrete commitments to Paris
10 May 2019Australian cement manufacturer Adelaide Brighton’s CEO Nick Miller said today that there are opportunities to align his company’s emission reduction targets with the Paris climate accord, although made no commitments. His statement was in response to a shareholder at the company’s annual general meeting asking if Adelaide Brighton … Read More
Rio Tinto investors baulk at climate risk management
9 May 2019 The vast majority of Rio Tinto’s investors – which includes just about every super fund in Australia – today failed to ensure the company acts to manage down its exposure to climate change risk. A Market Forces-coordinated shareholder resolution was put to Rio Tinto’s annual general meeting … Read More
