MEDIA RELEASE Thursday 23 February 2023: The big four Australian banks – ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac – have received a special delivery of ‘dead’ inflatable dolphins for financing oil and gas giant Santos, which allegedly killed marine life in a major oil spill. The dolphins are being delivered … Read More
Westpac’s ‘laughable’ greenwashing called out at 2022 AGM
14 December 2022 Over 10% of Westpac’s shareholders defied the board to support a formal proposal calling on the bank to demonstrate how its funding won’t be used for new fossil fuel projects at today’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Melbourne. The bank was also grilled over the community costs … Read More
Westpac sees climate impacts, increases fossil fuel exposure
Westpac, which has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 and the goals of the Paris Agreement, revealed an 11% increase in FY22 of its overall exposure to fossil fuels, with the increases attributed to customers in the coal rail transportation, LNG terminal, and oil and gas sectors. Westpac cited that … Read More
Were your retirement savings used to block climate action?
18 October 2022 Last Wednesday was a very sad day for climate action. Almost 95% of Commonwealth Bank’s shareholders – including our super funds – voted against a critical request for the bank to stop financing new and expansionary fossil fuel projects. We’re devastated at this abject failure by big … Read More
Big four Australian banks face shareholder climate backlash at AGMs
MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday 11 October 2022: Shareholder resolutions have been lodged with ANZ, NAB and Westpac calling on the banks to stop financing coal, oil and gas expansion. The resolutions, lodged by hundreds of shareholders and coordinated by environmental finance organisation Market Forces, follow one that will go to a … Read More
Santos sanctions another new project incompatible with 1.5°C
17 August 2022 Australia’s second biggest oil and gas producer, Santos, has today announced a final investment decision on the new Pikka Phase 1 oil project in Alaska. The decision comes despite the International Energy Agency’s warning that no new oil fields should be developed beyond those approved as of … Read More
Westpac: climate change commitments one week, financing climate-wreckers the next?
2 August 2022 Last week, Westpac announced it was joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and made some further climate change commitments that still fail to demonstrably align with the Paris Agreement’s goals. As Westpac made the announcement, another part of the bank was reportedly in talks with Santos, a company … Read More
Repeat offenders NAB, ANZ and Westpac bankrolling “bet against the Paris Agreement”
NAB, ANZ and Westpac are among 18 global banks that have loaned1 to a gas processing facility that paves the way for a carbon bomb at the scale of 15 coal power stations. The banks—including Japanese megabanks Mizuho, MUFG and SMBC, UK’s HSBC and Standard Chartered, and Bank of China—have … Read More
Westpac slammed over destructive fossil fuel funding at 2021 AGM
15 December 2021 Westpac faced a formal proposal from shareholders that it commit to stop funding new fossil fuel projects at today’s annual general meeting (AGM). The bank’s board also received a barrage of tough questions over its continued funding for companies expanding the fossil fuel industry, including Santos and … Read More
Tell Westpac: net-zero by 2050 = no new fossil fuels
15 December 2021 Westpac shareholders are today gathering at the company’s virtual annual general meeting (AGM), where they’ll hold the bank to account for all manner of issues, key among which is Westpac’s continued heavy financing for dirty fossil fuels. In fact, Market Forces supported shareholders to lodge a resolution … Read More