Will this mean it says ‘no’ to a $500m loan to gas company Santos? 9 September 2020 ANZ CEO Shayne Elliot says the bank will drop customers who fail to develop low carbon transition plans. Speaking at ANZ’s 2020 ESG briefing yesterday, Elliot said: “But if we get to a … Read More
Suncorp out of oil and gas drilling, leaving QBE isolated
21 August 2020 Suncorp has sent a clear message that it will not be a part of the Federal Government’s gas expansion plans, with an updated policy released today that bans the company from investing in, financing and insuring new and additional oil and gas exploration and production. In 2020, … Read More
CommBank on its way to thermal coal exit but climate concerns remain
12 August 2020 Today Commonwealth Bank released its 2020 annual report and revealed the extent to which it’s exposed to fossil fuels and how this has changed over the past year. Although the bank seems to be heading in the right direction with respect to thermal coal and gas, the … Read More
Media release: Fossil fuel lending by Australian banks tops AU$35bn
New Market Forces analysis – Funding Climate Failure Wednesday 8 July, 2020: Despite repeated pledges and policies to the contrary, Australia’s big four banks have once again increased funding to the expansion of the fossil fuel industry over the past year. The figures mean fossil fuel lending has topped $35.5 … Read More
Australia’s pariah projects: the fossil fuel proposals threatening to bust our climate goals
Since January 2016, just after expressing support for the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, Australia’s major banks did something our climate simply cannot afford; they poured billions of dollars into projects and companies expanding the scale of the fossil fuel industry. Despite warnings from economists and scientists that our … Read More
Fossil fuel investments tanking
16 May 2020 The value of Australia’s fossil fuel producers has tanked over the last 10 years, a trend which has been exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. We identified 11 companies in the top 300 listed on the Australian share market (ASX 300) whose sole business is producing coal, oil … Read More
Westpac sets thermal coal exit date, re-commits to Paris alignment
4 May, 2020 Westpac’s Climate Change Action Plan Update, released today, is another nail in the coffin for thermal coal, while the seriousness of the bank’s broader commitment to lend in line with the Paris Agreement climate goals will be revealed in time via its oil and gas lending. Westpac … Read More
Millions call on Westpac to end funding of fossil fuel expansions
15 April 2020 Market Forces has coordinated a letter signed by 52 organisations representing 4.2 million people from all over the world, calling on new Westpac CEO Peter King to end Westpac’s practice of loaning money to expansionary coal, oil and gas projects and companies. See the full letter here. … Read More
Westpac heavily favouring fossil fuels over renewables
11 April 2020 As you read this, Westpac is rewriting its climate change policy. And it clearly needs an upgrade. Since the Paris Agreement was reached, Westpac has loaned $5.4 billion to fossil fuels and only $2 billion to renewable energy technology. That means for every dollar Westpac loaned to … Read More
Bushfire survivors call on banks to stop funding climate crisis
20 March 2020 Today, anyone leafing through the pages of the Australian Financial Review can’t have missed this powerful ad on page 15: The Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action group has sent an open letter to the major Australian banks calling on them to stop funding new fossil fuel projects … Read More