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Tell your super fund: Vote for climate action

31 March 2021

1 April 2021

Over the coming weeks, your super fund has a number of huge opportunities to demand real climate action from some of Australia’s biggest gas companies, as well as globally-significant fossil fuel financiers and developers.

By investing your retirement savings in these companies, your super fund gets a say in how they are run. Tell your fund to use that power to drive the transition from dirty fossil fuels to a clean energy future!

Market Forces has worked with shareholders to ensure major investors, including your super fund, will soon get to vote on:

Should major oil and gas producers Santos, Woodside and Oil Search demonstrate how they will bring about an end to fossil fuel production?
Should Australian insurer QBE, UK bank Barclays and Japanese companies Sumitomo Corp and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group phase out fossil fuel exposure in line with the Paris climate goals?

We’ve made it easy to tell your super fund to vote FOR these important climate proposals. Use the form on this page to send a message to your fund today!

Take action

Tell your super fund to vote for climate action from corporate Australia.

Super fund*
Name*
First Last
Email Address*
Postcode*
Phone number
Subject
(You can edit this)
Your message to your super fund*
(You can personalise and amend this – your name will be automatically added at the end.)
As my super fund, I ask that you vote in favour of all climate-related shareholder resolutions at upcoming annual general meetings, including those calling on: -Woodside, Santos, and Oil Search to demonstrate how they will manage down oil and gas production in line with the Paris goals -QBE to phase out insurance and investment exposure to oil and gas -Sumitomo Corp, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Barclays to align their policies with the goals of the Paris Agreement By investing my retirement savings in these companies, you get a say in how they are run. I expect you to use that power to ensure companies are addressing climate change in a manner consistent with my best long term interests. The ever-increasing impacts of climate change, as well as the risks it poses to individual companies and the economy more broadly are clearly sufficient justification for driving strong climate action from the companies you invest my retirement savings in. While I understand some engagement on these matters occurs behind closed doors, your public support for climate change-related resolutions is required to demonstrate climate leadership and send signals to other companies within my portfolio. Please let me know how the fund intends to vote on these upcoming resolutions. I will be watching closely. Sincerely,
Good news! Australian Ethical does not invest in any of these companies, except QBE. Australian Ethical has worked with Market Forces to co-file the QBE shareholder proposal.
Good news! Your fund does not invest in any of these companies.
Of course I want to get updates about this campaign from Market Forces!
- Yes

What are these votes about?

Santos, Woodside and Oil Search are all planning to massively increase gas production, when we know gas use needs to rapidly decline if we are to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Market Forces has worked with shareholders to make formal proposals (known as resolutions), which call on all three companies to demonstrate how they will bring about an end to oil and gas production over time, protecting money from being wasted on new projects, and supporting workers as the economy rapidly moves on from fossil fuels to meet the Paris Agreement.

QBE currently provides the insurance that oil rigs and gas pipelines need to operate. These destructive industries are fuelling the ever-worsening heatwaves, storms, droughts and bushfires we are experiencing across the world. We’ve worked with shareholders to develop a resolution calling on QBE to stop insuring and investing in the oil and gas industries.

Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation is a major developer of coal-fired power plants and is also involved in coal mining, while MUFG, Japan’s biggest bank, is a significant financier of fossil fuels. UK bank Barclays is Europe’s biggest lender to fossil fuels. Resolutions call on each of these companies to disclose strategies and targets to align their businesses with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.

These resolutions will be voted on by all shareholders, including major investors like our super funds, at the companies’ upcoming annual general meetings. The first of these meetings are on 15 April, so your super fund needs to hear from you today!

How do shareholder resolutions work?

Click or tap here to find out more about the shareholder resolution process.