Westpac: a laggard on climate change

12 December 2019 Westpac’s board knew they would be facing fired-up shareholders at today’s annual general meeting (AGM) but perhaps weren’t prepared to bear the weight of responsibility for the impacts on communities and customers fighting the climate crisis.  Amid its recent scandals, the board was forced to address the … Read More

Senex: company statements on the Paris Agreement are hollow

SENEX field

18 November 2019 Senex, an Australian oil and gas company, states in its annual report that the company “recognises and accepts the science of climate change and fully supports the objectives of limiting global temperate rise as agreed by governments in the 2015 Paris Agreement.”  It seems, however, from the … Read More

Media release: Investors heap pressure on AGL

Thursday 19 September 2019 At today’s AGM in Sydney, over 30% of shareholders, worth more than AU$3.8bn, voted against management and in support of a resolution calling on the company to reduce emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Response from Will van de Pol, Market … Read More

Media release: Whitehaven Coal calls 185 countries’ bluff

15 August 2019 Whitehaven Coal, Australia’s biggest pure-play coal miner, has once again trumpeted coal demand projections based on a scenario that would see the utter failure of the Paris Agreement. “Whitehaven Coal’s plans to massively increase coal production seem to be based on the presumption that the world will … Read More

Media release: AGL management rejects climate resolution

8 August 2019 AGL’s management today advised shareholders to reject a resolution calling on the company, Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, to reduce emissions in line with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. “AGL’s argument against a common sense shareholder resolution appears to reject the science, which tells us … Read More

Media release: Commbank out of thermal coal by 2030

New fossil fuel projects must prove carbon compliance Wednesday 7 August 2019 In today’s commitment, made in the bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework, to exit thermal coal by 2030, Commonwealth Bank has issued a stark warning to industry and policy-makers that coal has no place in Australia’s future. Commonwealth … Read More

General Electric chooses to ignore clean energy transition

10 May 2019 Yesterday in New York at General Electric’s (GE) annual general meeting, (AGM) shareholders called out their CEO, H. Lawrence Culp Jr., for GE’s role in constructing new coal-fired power stations around the world, jeopardizing its own future viability as an energy company and that of our collective … Read More

Santos challenged over its plans to frack the Northern Territory

Santos AGM 2019 protest

2 May 2019 Shareholders and board members arriving at Santos’ annual general meeting (AGM) in Adelaide this morning were greeted by a large crowd highlighting Santos’ flagrant disregard for Indigenous land rights and a safe climate. The company plans to open up thousands of square kilometres of the Northern Territory … Read More