MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 28 May: A new Market Forces report reveals Australia’s top 30 super funds have more than $39 billion invested in companies globally with the biggest fossil fuel expansion plans.
Investments in this group of 190 companies – dubbed The Climate Wreckers Index – have more than doubled between December 2021 and December 2023, in super funds’ default or largest investment options, based on latest available disclosures.
The new analysis finds investments by the top 30 super funds in clean energy companies* have declined by half a billion dollars over that same period, totalling just $7.7 billion as at 31 December 2023.
Brett Morgan, Superannuation Funds Campaigner, Market Forces, said:
“Investments in the world’s biggest climate wreckers are skyrocketing as Australia’s biggest super funds are failing to rein in dangerous coal, oil and gas growth.
“Tens of thousands of members are demanding immediate and decisive climate action from their super funds, by forcing coal, gas and oil companies to end their fossil fuel expansion plans and divesting where this fails.”
For the first time, Market Forces’ analysis has identified each super fund’s share of emissions from the fossil fuel expansion plans of Climate Wreckers Index companies.
Just three companies – Woodside Energy, Santos and Whitehaven Coal – are responsible for 59 per cent of projected emissions attributable to the fossil fuel expansion plans of companies in the average super fund’s portfolio.
Market Forces research has found super funds must identify and prioritise highly-polluting companies for targeted engagement and demonstrate effective ‘active ownership’ of these investments, or attract legal scrutiny for greenwashing.
Many super funds rejected Woodside’s Climate Transition Action Plan in an advisory vote at the company’s recent annual general meeting yet supported the re-election of Woodside’s Chair.
“Members are sick of seeing their super funds fooled by Woodside and Santos’ greenwash and want their retirement savings out of filthy companies sabotaging the clean energy transition,” said Mr Morgan.
“Thousands of members are furious that large funds including AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust and HESTA are failing to rein in the climate-wrecking business plans of companies like Woodside.”
* Companies in the Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Global Clean Energy Index.
Key data
The funds with the default investment options most exposed to the Climate Wreckers Index – companies with the biggest fossil fuel expansion plans – (as a proportion of share investments) as at 31 December 2023 are:
- UniSuper – Balanced (11.5%)
- Commonwealth Super Corp – PSS Default (10.8%)
- MLC – MySuper Growth (10.4%)
The funds with the default investment options least exposed to the Climate Wreckers Index (as a proportion of share investments) as at 31 December 2023 are:
- ESSSuper – Balanced (6.6%)
- Aware Super – High Growth (6.6%)
- NGS Super – Diversified MySuper (6.7%)
Notes for the editors
The increase in super funds’ investments in Climate Wreckers Index companies from 31 December 2021 to 31 December 2023 is roughly in line with the growth in these companies’ market value, meaning there has been no major trend of super funds actively selling down these investments.
At Woodside’s 2024 annual general meeting in April, Australian Retirement Trust, AustralianSuper and HESTA all supported the re-election of company Chair Richard Goyder. Votes at Woodside and Santos’ 2022 and 2023 meetings can be found here.
The majority of most super funds’ exposures to Climate Wreckers Index companies comes primarily from BHP. If BHP were to adopt a coal phase out plan aligned with the Paris Agreement, and therefore be excluded from this analysis, UniSuper’s Balanced option would be the investment option with the least exposure to Climate Wreckers Index companies, as a proportion of share investments as at 31 December 2023.
For media inquiries and interviews, contact:
Antony Balmain, +61-423-253-477, [email protected]