At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Brisbane today, Suncorp chair Ziggy Switkowski made the quite unexpected commitment to reduce the company’s fossil fuel exposure to an ‘immaterial’ amount over the next two years. The revelation came in response to repeated questions from shareholders about climate change, including its management … Read More
Victoria steps up on political donations reform, now for the Feds
19 September 2017 In light of the Victorian Government’s proposed changes to political donation laws, we thought we should share our submission to the federal Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, which we made on 11 September 2017. But firstly, what has the Victorian Government actually proposed? There is a … Read More
Media Release: Shareholders move to force Commbank to manage climate risk
28 August 2017 Shareholders have lodged a first-of-its-kind resolution with Commonwealth Bank that would embed climate change risk management into its constitution. It comes a month after shareholders began court proceedings against the bank over its failure to consider climate change as a material business risk. The resolution, coordinated by … Read More
Media release: Origin Energy faces three shareholder resolutions
Coordinated by environmental finance group Market Forces, shareholders in Origin Energy have filed a series of resolutions with the oil and gas major. View ASX announcement. The three resolutions, to be heard at Origin’s October AGM, call for greater disclosure of climate risks, the development of a transition plan, and … Read More
Medibank losing customers due to fossil fuel investments
Medibank customers fed up with Medibank’s inaction on fossil fuel divestment have started switching to other health insurers. Medibank’s own website states, “at Medibank, we understand that the health of the environment has an impact on the health of the community.” And yet, this health insurer continues to invest customers’ … Read More
Commbank out of Adani but still in deep on fossil fuels
UPDATE: 28 August 2017 Shareholders have lodged a resolution with Commonwealth Bank, proposing that directors should manage the company in line with the goal of holding global warming to less than two degrees. Click here to see Market Forces’ media release about the resolution. Click here to view the resolution … Read More
Macquarie Chairman “not aware” of TCFD’s climate risk disclosure recommendations
At today’s annual general meeting in in Melbourne, Macquarie Group Chairman Peter Warne made the startling admission that he “was not familiar” with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures (TCFD). While the TCFD may not be well known in the wider community, its work and … Read More
Two degrees scorecard update
In December 2015, the Paris climate talks saw 195 nations agree to limit global warming to well below 2°C, compared with pre-industrial levels. In the lead up to Paris, ANZ, CommBank, NAB and Westpac all publicly championed the two degree limit, committing to support the transition to a low carbon … Read More
Big 4 STILL financing fossil fuel expansion
On 22 June 2017, some 18 months after committing to support the aims of the Paris Agreement, Australia’s big four banks all contributed to a deal to finance more oil and gas exploration and production. Clearly, ANZ, CommBank, NAB and Westpac are yet to come to terms with exactly what … Read More
