24 November 2015 Allianz Investment Management, the money management arm of the largest insurer in the world, has committed to divesting coal from their portfolios. The firm manages in excess of EUR 600 billion of assets covering the liabilities of the insurer. In an...
Australia reluctantly agrees to OECD coal finance restrictions
18 November 2015 Finance ministers from the OECD group of wealthy nations have reached an agreement to stop financing the highest polluting new coal power plants. Originally proposed by Japan and the US, the deal ensures that all new coal plants will only eligible for...
New report puts the spotlight back on fossil fuel subsidies
12 November 2015 The huge ongoing problem of governments around the world pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel production has been brought back into the spotlight by a new report published by US-based Oil Change International and the UK's Overseas...
Media Release: Australia’s big four banks commit to 2 degree global warming goal – but which ones mean real action?
5 November 2015 Market Forces have today welcomed announcements from Commonwealth Bank and NAB that acknowledge the need to limit global warming to less than two degrees, calling on the banks to back up their statements with action that matches this ambition. The...
IAG: We Need Climate Leadership
22 October 2015 It dawned on me yesterday at the Insurance Australia Group AGM, just how detached corporate Australia is from reality, when the IAG board became genuinely annoyed by questions related to climate change. If the board of an insurance company does not...
How to mismanage climate risk until it hurts
This article first appeared on Renew Economy on 19 October 2015 There’s an old saying that what counts is what gets counted, there’s a less well-known adage that says, what doesn’t get counted can cost you a fortune. The Australian insurance industry is finding out...
ANZ climate change policy leaves open the door for real leadership
6 October 2015 Market Forces is reacting to news this morning of a new set of commitments on ANZ regarding climate change and coal investments. "When it comes to leadership on climate change, the podium remains empty, and in desperate need of a bank to step up", said...
Fossil fuel lending in 2015 – The story so far
1 October 2015 As the banks’ AGMs rapidly approach, we thought it would be useful to check in with our latest research and see what stories have come out of the fossil fuel lending numbers so far this year. All data quoted below is taken from our research into fossil...
Suncorp’s $1bn extreme weather loss. Climate change, anyone?
24 September 2015 Suncorp Group held its Annual General Meeting in Brisbane today and several shareholders pointed out that in the last financial year, Suncorp was hit by losses from natural disasters of $473 million above provisions. The Brisbane hailstorm in...
Fossil Free Funds launches in the US
16 September 2015 Similar to our own Super Switch project, the Fossil Free Funds initiative has been launched by US non-profit As You Sow. The project makes it simple for users to research their exposure to fossil fuel companies through the holdings of their...