21 July 2021 Australian coal company New Hope has a track-record of dodging questions about the material financial risks to its business from climate change. That’s why this week EDO Australia, on behalf of Market Forces, wrote to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) requesting an investigation into potentially … Read More
Coal affair sinks Mark Vaile’s uni application
23 June 2021 Thanks to an enormous backlash from students, staff, alumni, donors and the NTEU, former Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of Whitehaven Coal Mark Vaile decided to walk away from his appointment as the next chancellor of Newcastle University [1]. Vaile’s decision underscores that associating with the climate-wrecking … Read More
Woah big spender! New Hope splashes out promoting climate-wrecking coal
11 June 2021 Data released last month shows that coal company New Hope splurged over $650,000 on the 2020 Queensland election, ranking fourth on a ‘big spenders’ list headed by Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy Pty Ltd [1]. The bulk of the company’s expenditure was on advertising, marketing and public relations advice … Read More
Spotlight on big banks after landmark court decision
28 May 2021 In a landmark judgment yesterday about Whitehaven’s proposed Vickery coal mine, Australia’s Federal Court decided that the national environment minister has a duty of care not to cause harm to young people from climate change. According to Ava Princi, one of the eight school students who brought … Read More
Big banks snub local farmers concerned about Whitehaven Coal
12 April 2021 Whitehaven Coal is one of the biggest coal mining corporations on the Australian share market and some of the world’s biggest banks, including Westpac, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, played a key role in lending $1 billion to the company in 2020. ANZ and Commonwealth Bank have … Read More
New Hope’s largest shareholder says it doesn’t need to think about net-zero by 2050
9 December 2020 The largest shareholder of Australian thermal coal mining company New Hope, Washington H Soul Pattinson, fielded a number of shareholder questions on the shift away from coal-fired power generation required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The company’s responses will do little to reassure investors … Read More
Senex Energy indulging in wishful thinking
19 November 2020 At its annual general meeting today, Australian gas producer Senex Energy reiterated its plans for a five-fold increase in production over the next 5 years. These plans are in stark contrast to the declines in gas use required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, and … Read More
New Hope increasingly detached from reality
17 November 2020 At its annual general meeting today, New Hope Corporation faced a shareholder resolution calling on the company to wind up its coal production in line with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. With the Board recommending shareholders vote against the resolution, and parent company Washington H … Read More
The Economist invites company building massive new coal mine to present on climate risk
16 November 2020 The Economist Magazine’s Climate Risk Asia Week starting on 30 November includes a number of online events discussing the various aspects of climate risk. The one that particularly caught our attention is the session on Financing Infrastructure, which features none other than the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) … Read More
7.4% of shareholders call on Cooper Energy to wind up gas and oil production
12 November 2020 Cooper Energy, a rapidly-growing gas and oil producer focused on the south east Australian market, today faced a shareholder resolution calling on the company to wind up its fossil fuel production in a manner consistent with the Paris climate goals. This ground-breaking proposal, the first of its … Read More