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
Fortescue talks up renewable energy shift, but ignores many climate questions
11 November 2020 Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) founder and chair Andrew Forrest used today’s annual general meeting to announce the company’s plans to move heavily into renewable energy and green industry opportunities, but appeared to systematically ignore shareholder questions on climate change. FMG has committed over $1 billion to its … Read More
Central Petroleum fails to back up climate risk claims
10 November 2020 With major investment decisions on new gas projects expected in the next two years, shareholders attending Central’s annual general meeting today wanted to know if the company is manging the risk that its gas projects will be left stranded by the transition to a low-carbon economy. Leading … Read More
Mark’s historic super fund legal win
5 November 2020 You may have seen the news this week about 25-year-old Brisbane ecologist Mark McVeigh, who won a historic legal battle against his $57 billion super fund, Rest, over climate change. What you may not know is that Mark used Market Forces’ research and tools to start asking … Read More