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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 renewables, it loaned $2.70 to the industry that is turbo charging global warming and the catastrophic bushfires and extreme weather pummeling Australia and the world.
Of the big four banks, Westpac has consistently loaned the least or second least to renewable energy since 2016. Westpac’s ratio of lending to fossil fuels versus renewable energy is worsening, the gap increasing by 9% between 2018 and 2019, with the amount to fossil fuels going up compared to the amount loaned to renewables. In that timeframe, Westpac’s lending to renewable energy dropped by $92 million, or a 14% decline.
Westpac’s coal and gas lending in 2019 was its second-highest since declaring its support for the Paris climate agreement at the end of 2015. These figures show that Westpac is not reducing its lending to climate-wrecking coal, oil and gas and therefore it’s failing to meet its own public commitment.
Right now, Westpac is finalising the update to its obviously inadequate climate policy. Now is a critical time to tell Westpac that it must set itself on a path that actually aligns with the Paris climate goals it has pledged to uphold. This means ruling out lending to any projects and companies that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry immediately and phasing out all thermal coal exposure by 2030.
Westpac needs to hear it from you: it is unacceptable to lend 2.7 times as much to polluting fossil fuels compared to renewable energy.
Check out all the ways you can take action on Westpac online and from home here.
[/cs_text][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content][cs_content_seo]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 renewables, it loaned $2.70 to the industry that is turbo charging global warming and the catastrophic bushfires and extreme weather pummeling Australia and the world.
Of the big four banks, Westpac has consistently loaned the least or second least to renewable energy since 2016. Westpac’s ratio of lending to fossil fuels versus renewable energy is worsening, the gap increasing by 9% between 2018 and 2019, with the amount to fossil fuels going up compared to the amount loaned to renewables. In that timeframe, Westpac’s lending to renewable energy dropped by $92 million, or a 14% decline.
Westpac’s coal and gas lending in 2019 was its second-highest since declaring its support for the Paris climate agreement at the end of 2015. These figures show that Westpac is not reducing its lending to climate-wrecking coal, oil and gas and therefore it’s failing to meet its own public commitment.
Right now, Westpac is finalising the update to its obviously inadequate climate policy. Now is a critical time to tell Westpac that it must set itself on a path that actually aligns with the Paris climate goals it has pledged to uphold. This means ruling out lending to any projects and companies that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry immediately and phasing out all thermal coal exposure by 2030.
Westpac needs to hear it from you: it is unacceptable to lend 2.7 times as much to polluting fossil fuels compared to renewable energy.
Check out all the ways you can take action on Westpac online and from home here.
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SubjectYour message to Westpac (customer)Dear Westpac,
I am outraged to learn that, since committing to support the Paris climate goals to curb the climate crisis, you have loaned $5.4 billion to fossil fuel projects. Not only that, your have heavily favoured fossil fuel lending over that to renewable energy, with every dollar to renewables seeing $2.70 going to dirty coal, oil and gas.
And that despite releasing a Climate Action plan in 2017, you doubled your lending to thermal coal between 2017 and 2018 and increased investment in massive expansionary oil and gas projects.
To actually address the climate crisis and reflect the “sustainable banking values” that Westpac boasts, I ask that you update your Climate Action Policy with commitments to:
– No thermal coal exposure by 2030
– Not financing projects that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry
– Not financing clients whose business strategies are based on the failure of the Paris Climate Agreement
Please confirm as soon as possible that you will do the right thing for a chance at a safe climate by committing to the above points.
As a customer, I am giving you one last chance to decide whether you want my business. I am asking you to make commitments today that would be the bare minimum to carry any credibility on climate change from this point forward.
Sincerely,
Your message to Westpac (shareholder)Dear Westpac,
I am outraged to learn that, since committing to support the Paris climate goals to curb the climate crisis, you have loaned $5.4 billion to fossil fuel projects. Not only that, your have heavily favoured fossil fuel lending over that to renewable energy, with every dollar to renewables seeing $2.70 going to dirty coal, oil and gas.
And that despite releasing a Climate Action plan in 2017, you doubled your lending to thermal coal between 2017 and 2018 and increased investment in massive expansionary oil and gas projects.
To actually address the climate crisis and reflect the “sustainable banking values” that Westpac boasts, I ask that you update your Climate Action Policy with commitments to:
– No thermal coal exposure by 2030
– Not financing projects that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry
– Not financing clients whose business strategies are based on the failure of the Paris Climate Agreement
Please confirm as soon as possible that you will do the right thing for a chance at a safe climate by committing to the above points.
As a shareholder, I am giving you one last chance to decide whether you want my business. I am asking you to make commitments today that would be the bare minimum to carry any credibility on climate change from this point forward.
Sincerely,Your message to Westpac (customer and shareholder)
Dear Westpac,
I am outraged to learn that, since committing to support the Paris climate goals to curb the climate crisis, you have loaned $5.4 billion to fossil fuel projects. Not only that, your have heavily favoured fossil fuel lending over that to renewable energy, with every dollar to renewables seeing $2.70 going to dirty coal, oil and gas.
And that despite releasing a Climate Action plan in 2017, you doubled your lending to thermal coal between 2017 and 2018 and increased investment in massive expansionary oil and gas projects.
To actually address the climate crisis and reflect the “sustainable banking values” that Westpac boasts, I ask that you update your Climate Action Policy with commitments to:
– No thermal coal exposure by 2030
– Not financing projects that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry
– Not financing clients whose business strategies are based on the failure of the Paris Climate Agreement
Please confirm as soon as possible that you will do the right thing for a chance at a safe climate by committing to the above points.
As a customer and shareholder, I am giving you one last chance to decide whether you want my business. I am asking you to make commitments today that would be the bare minimum to carry any credibility on climate change from this point forward.
Sincerely,
Your message to Westpac (neither customer and shareholder)Dear Westpac,
I am outraged to learn that, since committing to support the Paris climate goals to curb the climate crisis, you have loaned $5.4 billion to fossil fuel projects. Not only that, your have heavily favoured fossil fuel lending over that to renewable energy, with every dollar to renewables seeing $2.70 going to dirty coal, oil and gas.
And that despite releasing a Climate Action plan in 2017, you doubled your lending to thermal coal between 2017 and 2018 and increased investment in massive expansionary oil and gas projects.
To actually address the climate crisis and reflect the “sustainable banking values” that Westpac boasts, I ask that you update your Climate Action Policy with commitments to:
– No thermal coal exposure by 2030
– Not financing projects that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry
– Not financing clients whose business strategies are based on the failure of the Paris Climate Agreement
Please confirm as soon as possible that you will do the right thing for a chance at a safe climate by committing to the above points.
I am asking you to make commitments today that would be the bare minimum to carry any credibility on climate change from this point forward.
Sincerely,
Yes, I want to hear more from Market Forces about this campaign
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Not only that, your have heavily favoured fossil fuel lending over that to renewable energy, with every dollar to renewables seeing $2.70 going to dirty coal, oil and gas.\n\nAnd that despite releasing a Climate Action plan in 2017, you doubled your lending to thermal coal between 2017 and 2018 and increased investment in massive expansionary oil and gas projects. \n\nTo actually address the climate crisis and reflect the \u201csustainable banking values\u201d that Westpac boasts, I ask that you update your Climate Action Policy with commitments to:\n- No thermal coal exposure by 2030\n- Not financing projects that expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry\n- Not financing clients whose business strategies are based on the failure of the Paris Climate Agreement \n\nPlease confirm as soon as possible that you will do the right thing for a chance at a safe climate by committing to the above points. \n\nAs a customer, I am giving you one last chance to decide whether you want my business. 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