Activist group Market Forces tells NAB and ANZ to cut oil and gas funding
Activist group Market Forces is demanding NAB and ANZ reduce their exposure to the fossil fuel sector.
Activist group Market Forces is demanding NAB and ANZ reduce their exposure to the fossil fuel sector, lodging shareholder resolutions with both lenders ahead of their upcoming annual general meetings.
Hitting the banks with the resolutions on Thursday, the green group accused both lenders of greenwashing and called on them to set out clear strategies and targets to slash their oil, gas and coal exposures in line with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.
“Nearly five years since publicly supporting the Paris Agreement, Australia’s major banks continue undermining that commitment through their financing activity,” Market Forces research co-ordinator Jack Bertolus said.
“They’ve continued lending to new fossil fuel projects that are entirely inconsistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C, and banking companies whose business plans rely on the failure of the Paris Agreement.”
ANZ’s exposure to coal mining rose 7 per cent to $1.5bn in 2019, while its oil and gas exposure increased 8 per cent to $19.9bn in 2019, the group said.
NAB’s reported net exposure to gas-fired power, meanwhile, rose more than 100 per cent to $1.17bn in the 12 months to March, while its net exposure to oil and gas extraction climbed 10 per cent to $4.14bn.
“Continued large-scale lending to fossil fuels is not only exposing these banks and their shareholders to increasing levels of climate risk, it’s also undermining our chances of keeping the climate crisis under control,” Mr Bertolus said. These resolutions make crystal clear to ANZ and NAB what’s expected of their planned fossil fuel policy updates.”
Westpac was spared a similar resolution following the release of its climate change action plan in May, while CBA also managed to avoid getting hit with a resolution this year as it battles shareholders who accuse it of breaching its climate policy by financing expansionary gas projects.
Market Forces accused NAB and ANZ of lending to projects that would expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry, pointing to the Tipton West gas-processing facility in Queensland and the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project in Canada as recent examples.
“Seven days after calling for a green recovery in May, NAB funded a new gas pipeline in Canada that, over its lifetime, would enable the release of more CO2 than Australia’s national emissions in 2019,” Mr Bertolus said.
ANZ and NAB are yet to disclose Paris-aligned thermal coal exposure reduction targets, while none of the majors have set targets for cutting oil and gas funding.
Suncorp in August said it would phase out underwriting for the oil and gas sector by 2025 and direct investment by 2040.
Market Forces lodged similar resolutions with ANZ, NAB and Westpac last year and votes in their favour ranged from 12.9 per cent to 16.6 per cent.
ANZ is due to announce a new policy on fossil fuels in October, while NAB CEO Ross McEwan last month said the bank would review its oil and gas financing policy within the next year.
ANZ is due to hold its AGM on December 16, while NAB’s takes place two days later.
