Home > Whitehaven rushing ahead with new coal mine, backed by NAB and Westpac

Whitehaven rushing ahead with new coal mine, backed by NAB and Westpac

2 May 2023

2 May 2023

Whitehaven Coal has announced plans to start production at a new coal mine this year, flying in the face of global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. What’s worse, the company is pursuing these plans with the financial backing of two of Australia’s biggest banks: NAB and Westpac.

Take action: Tell NAB and Westpac to cut ties today!

On Friday 21 April, Whitehaven announced it will fast-track mining at its new Vickery coal project, aiming to start construction in June this year. The project will begin with an initial ‘box-cut’, producing 1 million tonnes of thermal coal per annum as early as next year, with Whitehaven then wanting to rapidly ramp up to 10 million tonnes of coal per annum with the full Vickery development.

Whitehaven also disclosed that the coal from this initial Vickery box-cut will go entirely “into the thermal market”, meaning it will all be used in coal fired power stations. This appears to contradict Whitehaven’s claims that Vickery “will produce a majority metallurgical coal for steel-making”, a less emissions-intensive use. Whitehaven is clearly only interested in getting the highest price possible for its climate wrecking coal as quickly as possible, irrespective of the emissions impact.

The opening of the Vickery coal mine is completely at odds with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5˚C. It also flies in the face of the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050 Scenario, which clearly articulated back in 2021 that in order to meet our global climate goals, “there is no need for any new coal mines or mine lifetime extensions.”

While the news of a new coal mine is a devastating blow, there is still work to be done, and an opportunity to limit the size and scale of Whitehaven’s expansionary plans by continuing to push the financial institutions currently backing the miner to cut ties.

NAB and Westpac, as part of a syndicate of 12 banks, loaned Whitehaven $1 billion in 2020. Whitehaven’s current loan facility with these banks is due to end in July 2023, but the company says it is currently in negotiations to refinance and extend this loan. With loan discussions reaching their final stages, neither NAB or Westpac have ruled out giving Whitehaven more money!

Whitehaven is planning to spend around $4 billion on three new coal mines and expansions: Vickery, Narrabri Stage 3 and Winchester South. These mines have marketable coal reserves of almost 500 million tonnes. According to Market Forces analysis, when emissions from digging up and burning the coal are added, these three mines would unleash over 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions over their lifetimes, the equivalent of more than twice Australia’s entire annual emissions.

Convincing Whitehaven’s bankers to walk away now can help ensure these new coal projects never get off the ground, and the coal stays in it. NAB and Westpac’s financing of a company pursuing several new coal projects comes at the expense of other customers and everyday Australians facing worsening floods, bushfires and heatwaves. It needs to stop now.

TAKE ACTION

Demand NAB and Westpac cut ties with Whitehaven.

Name

First Last

Subject

Message

(Your name will be automatically added at the end, and the salutation to NAB and Westpac will also be added to the top)

Whitehaven Coal recently announced it will commence early mining of the Vickery thermal coal deposit with construction on the open-cut mine starting in June this year. As one of 12 banks that currently provides finance to Whitehaven through a AU$1 billion syndicated debt facility, your institution has played a role in the establishment of this new thermal coal mine.

Whitehaven’s Vickery coal mine and other proposed expansionary coal projects  are consistent with the failure of the Paris Agreement. I am also concerned that your institution is currently being asked to provide further finance to Whitehaven, as it pursues several new coal projects.

I call on you to confirm that your bank will not fund any of these coal projects and will not provide any further financial support to Whitehaven Coal, including the arrangement or underwriting of bonds. I also ask that you commit to not provide finance to any other companies undermining the Paris Agreement by expanding the fossil fuel industry.

Any expansion of the coal industry is incompatible with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels. It is also incompatible with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero Emissions by 2050 modelling, which two years ago found there could be “no new coal mines or mine extensions”. Yet, Whitehaven Coal is building a new coal mine this year and has plans for other massive new coal mining projects when the world desperately needs to transition to clean, renewable energy sources.

Whitehaven has already announced that it will commence early mining of the Vickery thermal coal deposit and has plans to scale up production at the site in a second phase development to be decided on later this year. A full scale Vickery coal mine would be a climate disaster, unleashing almost 370 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) between now and 2047. Meanwhile, Whitehaven’s proposed Winchester South mine would unleash almost 550 million tonnes of CO2-e over its 30 year lifespan.

Whitehaven has repeatedly justified its expansion plans by referring to coal demand projections that are consistent with the failure of the Paris Agreement. Even 2°C of warming would expose 37% of the world’s population to extreme heat, destroy 99% of the world’s coral reefs (including the Great Barrier Reef) and result in massive biodiversity loss. At 3°C of warming, global GDP losses could be more than 25% by 2100. Put simply, Whitehaven’s business model depends on catastrophic ecological, social and economic collapse.

Not only is Whitehaven wrecking our climate, it also has a long history of destroying the local environment and communities that it operates in. Whitehaven has repeatedly breached environmental conditions put in place to govern its operations, including by contaminating nearby streams and excessive air pollution. In December 2020, Whitehaven pleaded guilty to 19 charges brought against it by the New South Wales resources regulator for unauthorised vegetation clearing, unauthorised drilling of bores and failing to rehabilitate drill sites.

For years, local farmers have raised concerns that Whitehaven’s coal mines have been unlawfully taking water without a licence, including during severe drought. In July 2021, Whitehaven pleaded guilty to unlawfully taking one billion litres of water at its Maules Creek coal mine. Even where Whitehaven has lawfully obtained its water, it has sometimes done so at the expense of local farmers by outbidding them on the water trading market.

I call on you to publicly commit to not provide any further financial support to Whitehaven Coal, or other companies pursuing fossil fuel expansion plans, which are consistent with the failure of the Paris Agreement.

Sincerely,

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TOOK ACTION: Banks - NAB / Westpac re Whitehaven Vickery coal mine email action - April 2023

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