Tuesday 11 February: New Market Forces analysis finds 10 retail banks in Australia committed AU $74.4 billion in finance to fossil fuel companies around the world in 2023.
The new report – The Dirty Ten: Banks in Australia still backing fossil fuels – also finds that an overwhelming majority of Australian retail banks – 85 out of 103 – do not lend any money to coal, oil and gas.
Between 2016-2023, after the Paris Agreement was signed to limit global warming, the analysis shows that 10 of 103 retail banks operating in Australia committed a whopping AU $753 billion to coal, oil and gas globally.
Many customers of eight smaller banks, Ubank, St. George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA, Bankwest, Bankwest, Citi and Suncorp may not realise their bank is owned by ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB or Westpac, which continue to pour billions into fossil fuels.
Kyle Robertson, Senior Banks Analyst, Market Forces said:
“It’s good news that most Australian banks don’t provide any money to fossil fuels but Australia’s major banks, ANZ, NAB, Westpac, CommBank and Macquarie committed more than $8.1 billion to coal, oil and gas in 2023.”
“Most Australians want their banks to take greater action on climate yet millions of customers may not realise their money is still financing companies expanding fossil fuels.”
In Australia, ANZ provided the most finance to coal, oil and gas in 2023, committing AU $2.6 billion to fossil fuels. Another culprit, NAB was close behind committing $2.4 billion. Macquarie Bank was third, committing more than $1.3 billion to fossil fuels. Westpac committed more than AU$1 billion to coal, oil and gas while Commonwealth Bank of Australia provided more than $850 million to fossil fuels.
For Australia’s big four banks, the majority of fossil fuel finance continues to go to companies with expansion plans, despite calls by the world’s climate scientists for an immediate end to fossil fuel expansion, according to the recent Market Forces Banking Climate Failure report.
The analysis finds five international banks providing retail services to customers in Australia provided AU$66.2 billion in finance to fossil fuel companies in 2023, led by Bank of China, HSBC and ING.
The big four banks, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac, as well as their subsidiaries, dominate Australia’s home loan market – accounting for more than 80 per cent of mortgages.
“Climate change-fuelled bushfires, floods and droughts are driving up costs such as insurance for everyday Australians while the big banks profit off fossil fuel expansion,” said Mr Robertson.
“Australia’s biggest lenders have a responsibility to ensure a safe and liveable planet but are burning our future by financing companies expanding coal, oil and gas.”
The full report is available here.
View Banks Comparison here
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Antony Balmain, +61-423-253-477, [email protected]
Note to Editors: The finance featured in this analysis includes corporate and project loans, bonds and share issuance underwriting between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2023.