Our Big 4 Banks still subsidising climate chaos says report
April 25, 2023 at 2:14 am John Englart Leave a comment
The Banking on Climate Chaos 2023 report has been published and shows the big 4 Australian Banks: the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, NAB Bank and Westpac Bank are continuing to approve loans for fossil fuel expansion. Climate Action Merribek was one of many civil society organisations that endorsed this report.
In the league table of worst banks globally for financing fossil fuels, ANZ ranks no 44, Westpac 53, Commonwealth 54, and NAB 56.
All 4 banks have set net-zero 2050 climate targets, but given continued financing of fossil fuel expansion one must question whether this is greenwash target setting. The following details are gathered on the big 4 Australian banks.
See also Market Forces: Australia’s big four banks face human rights complaint over Santos Barossa financing (4 April 2023)
Commonwealth Bank Investments in Fossil Fuels 2016-2022.
From 2016 to 2022 the Commonwealth Bank Fossil Fuel Company Total Financing: $8,148.69 million USD (All values in US$)
Investing in:
- Tar Sands Oil ranked 40th with a $17 million investment 2016-2022.
- Arctic oil and gas ranked 50th with a $2 million investment 2016-2022
- Offshore oil and gas ranked 33rd, with an $8 million investment in 2022, and total investment of $1.530 billion 2016-2022.
- Liquefied Natural Gas ranked 32rd, total investment $684 million 2016-2022
- Coal Mining ranked 43rd, with a $40 million 2022 investment, $374 million 2016-2022
Oil and Gas Policy tracker
Global Evaluation
Projects: No commitment regarding this criterion
Expansion: No commitment regarding this criterion
Phase-out: No commitment regarding this criterion
Source: Enviromental & Social Framework (2021)
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: Exclusion of lending dedicated to new clients whose primary focus is the extraction, exploration, expansion or development of oil and gas projects in the Arctic and Antarctica / Arctic definition: not specified.
Fracking: No commitment regarding this criterion
Tar sands: Exclusion of lending dedicated to new clients whose primary focus is the mining, exploration, expansion, or development of oil sands.
Ultra-deep water: No commitment regarding this criterion
Recommendations
Commonwealth Bank of Australia updated its 2019 oil and gas policy in 2021. This new commitment only aims to exclude new clients primarily involved in upstream oil and gas projects in two unconventional sectors. The bank should now stop financing all unconventional oil and gas projects, as well as conventional ones, and introduce corporate-level exclusion measures for companies with oil and gas expansion plans. Finally, to give real credibility to its commitment to the Net Zero Banking Alliance, the bank must adopt a comprehensive phase-out strategy for the oil and gas industry, aligned with a 1.5°C scenario. This starts with conditioning financial support to an immediate commitment by companies to reduce their oil and gas production by 2030.
Commonwealth Bank Coal Policy
Evaluation Criteria By Criteria
– Projects: Exclusion of new or expanded thermal coal mines and new coal plants (score 8).
– Relative: Exclusion of companies deriving 25% or more of their revenues from thermal coal, but only for new clients (score 1).
– Phase-out: Phase-out from the coal mining sector by 2030 covering companies deriving more than 5% of their revenues from thermal coal mining (score 3), but only for lending (malus 2).
Source: Environmental and Social Framework (11 August 2021), Climate report (August 2022)
Analysis & Next Steps
Seven years after COP21, a lot remains to be done for the Commonwealth Bank. The Australian bank updated its coal policy in August 2021 and August 2022. It now finally excludes the direct financing of new thermal coal mines and new coal plants, but not coal infrastructure. Almost all the other elements of a robust coal policy are missing, since Commonwealth Bank only excludes some coal companies but only for new clients, which is a giant loophole. Since 2022, CBA plans to phase out its lending exposure to mining companies generating more than 5% of their revenues from thermal coal by 2030. The bank must urgently exclude all coal developers, adopt stringent exclusion thresholds at the corporate level for its existing clients, and commit to a clear and complete phase-out strategy, requiring other companies to adopt a plan to exit coal at the latest by 2030 in Europe/OECD and 2040 worldwide, or face exclusion.
| Company | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Grand Total |
| Santos Ltd | – | – | 940,000,000 | 200,000,000 | 250,000,000 | – | 416,666,666 | 1,806,666,666 |
| Glencore PLC | 39,741,920 | 45,843,750 | 66,119,985 | 111,677,419 | 154,693,338 | – | 46,412,903 | 464,489,315 |
| ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18,955,021 | 18,955,021 |
| IGO Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 9,984,455 | 12,433,617 | 22,418,073 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 26,344,843 | – | 26,344,843 |
| Ampol Ltd | – | – | – | – | 91,961,875 | 91,317,125 | – | 183,279,000 |
| Aurizon Holdings Ltd | 28,598,048 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28,598,048 |
| AusNet Services Ltd | – | 37,119,935 | 33,395,813 | – | – | – | – | 70,515,748 |
| State Grid Corp of China | 38,999,123 | 75,434,672 | 53,157,767 | – | 28,838,181 | – | – | 196,429,743 |
| Aker BP ASA | 455,454,700 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 455,454,700 |
| APA Group | 35,059,388 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 35,059,388 |
| Inpex Corp | – | – | – | – | 1,050,875,000 | – | – | 1,050,875,000 |
| Neptune Energy Group Ltd | – | – | – | 15,000,000 | – | – | – | 15,000,000 |
| Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd | 194,261,600 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 194,261,600 |
| Jadestone Energy PLC | – | – | 60,000,000 | – | – | – | – | 60,000,000 |
| Australian Petroleum Investments Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 109,294,500 | – | 109,294,500 |
| Origin Energy Ltd | 320,780,925 | – | – | 209,517,495 | 106,994,494 | 181,636,890 | – | 818,929,804 |
| Beach Energy Ltd | – | – | 395,941,625 | – | – | 109,294,500 | – | 505,236,125 |
| Shandong Qingyuan Group Co Ltd | – | – | – | 169,601,514 | – | – | – | 169,601,514 |
| Cheniere Energy Inc | – | 88,235,294 | 236,054,297 | 116,937,391 | 74,074,074 | 125,862,069 | – | 641,163,125 |
| Vitol Holding BV | 123,636,000 | 151,000,000 | – | – | – | – | – | 274,636,000 |
| China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) | – | 270,833,333 | – | 133,333,334 | – | – | – | 404,166,667 |
| Woodside Energy Group Ltd | 66,666,667 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 66,666,667 |
| CLP Holdings Ltd | – | – | 120,892,427 | – | – | 95,505,443 | – | 216,397,869 |
| GIP Capricorn Finco Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 314,246,409 | – | 314,246,409 |
See CAM Blog August 2017: Commbank rules out funding Adani Carmichael coal mine
ANZ Bank loans 2016-2022 for Fossil Fuels
From 2016 to 2022 the ANZ Bank Fossil Fuel Company Total Financing: $22,291.67 million USD (All values in US$). The ANZ Bank had a 148% increase in fossil fuel investment from 2021 to 2022.
Investing in:
- Tar Sands Oil ranked 36th with a $30 million investment 2016-2022.
- Arctic oil and gas ranked 42nd with a $32 million investment 2016-2022
- Offshore oil and gas ranked 19th, with $81 million in 2022, and total investment of $4.721 billion 2016-2022.
- Fracked Oil and Gas ranked 46th with $53 million 2016-2022
- Liquefied Natural Gas ranked 30th, total investment $771 million 2016-2022
- Coal Mining ranked 44th , with $40 million in 2022, total investment $354 million 2016-2022
- Banking on Coal Power ranked 40th, with $555 million 2016-2022
Oil and Gas Policy tracker
Global Evaluation
Projects: No policy
Expansion: No policy
Phase-out: No policy
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: No policy
Fracking: No policy
Tar sands: No policy
Ultra-deep water: No policy
Recommendations
Seven years after the Paris Agreement, and while the IEA acknowledges the need to stop oil and gas expansion, ANZ Banking Group still has not adopted any exclusion measures towards the oil and gas sector. This absence of commitment explains why the bank has backed the fossil fuel industry with $22 billion since 2016. As a signatory of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, ANZ must now condition financial support to an immediate commitment from the oil and gas companies not to develop new oil and gas projects and to reduce their oil and gas production by 2030. It is time to act.
ANZ Coal Policy
Evaluation Criteria By Criteria
– Projects: Exclusion of some coal mines and all new coal plants (score 5).
– Relative: Exclusion of mining, power and infrastructure companies above 10% of revenues, capacity or generation but only for new clients (score 1).
Source: Climate Change Commitment (November 2020; November 2021; November 2022), Extractives industry policy and Energy policy (November 2021)
Analysis & Next Steps
Seven years after COP21, ANZ still has a very limited coal policy. At the project level, some new coal mines and all coal plants are excluded, but this is very insufficient to meet the climate objectives set by the Paris Agreement. The Australian bank has set some exclusion thresholds, but they only apply to new clients, which is a giant loophole. To improve its policy, ANZ must urgently exclude all coal developers, adopt stringent exclusion thresholds at the corporate level for its existing clients, and adopt an overall strategy to fully exit coal at the latest by 2030 in the Europe/OECD, and 2040 worldwide. A lot remains to be done.
| Company | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Grand Total |
| Inpex Corp | 600,000,000 | 455,769,230 | – | – | 1,050,875,000 | – | 1,505,600,000 | 3,612,244,230 |
| Santos Ltd | – | – | 940,000,000 | 200,000,000 | 250,000,000 | – | 416,666,666 | 1,806,666,666 |
| APA Group | 35,059,388 | – | 70,127,118 | 121,837,611 | – | – | 333,762,257 | 560,786,373 |
| Woodside Energy Group Ltd | – | – | – | 300,000,000 | – | – | 300,000,000 | 600,000,000 |
| Vitol Holding BV | 123,636,000 | 151,000,000 | 206,111,111 | 197,272,727 | 183,181,818 | 195,000,000 | 208,750,000 | 1,264,951,656 |
| Reliance Industries Ltd | 54,112,262 | 138,282,625 | 85,904,220 | 68,876,977 | 101,722,956 | – | 205,155,541 | 654,054,579 |
| AusNet Services Ltd | – | 37,119,935 | 73,607,761 | 54,618,993 | 89,337,414 | – | 190,719,778 | 445,403,882 |
| Viva Energy Group Ltd | 275,000,000 | – | – | 140,000,000 | – | 140,000,000 | 140,000,000 | 695,000,000 |
| CLP Holdings Ltd | – | 50,448,238 | – | – | 125,325,606 | 70,598,951 | 117,515,970 | 363,888,765 |
| China Gas Holdings Ltd | – | – | 99,084,845 | – | – | 149,051,708 | 99,367,623 | 347,504,176 |
| Cooper Energy Ltd | – | – | 99,888,437 | – | – | – | 71,909,250 | 171,797,687 |
| Medco Daya Abadi Lestari PT | – | 187,720,856 | 156,434,047 | 127,913,406 | – | – | 70,395,321 | 542,463,630 |
| Glencore PLC | – | 45,843,750 | 66,119,985 | 111,677,419 | 154,693,338 | – | 46,412,903 | 424,747,395 |
| ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18,955,021 | 18,955,021 |
| IGO Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 9,984,455 | 12,433,617 | 22,418,073 |
| Entrust | – | – | – | 8,064,452 | 11,142,723 | 7,799,810 | 9,403,333 | 36,410,318 |
| Infratil Ltd | 5,466,417 | 6,982,439 | 8,585,841 | 12,263,801 | 552,831 | 19,325,268 | 2,276,619 | 55,453,216 |
| Power Finance Corp Ltd | 44,400,000 | 51,233,333 | 16,800,000 | – | – | – | – | 112,433,333 |
| BP PLC | – | 158,041,681 | – | – | 241,230,051 | – | – | 399,271,732 |
| State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) | 97,656,855 | – | 50,934,519 | – | – | – | – | 148,591,374 |
| China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) | 90,000,000 | 270,833,333 | – | – | – | – | – | 360,833,333 |
| Neptune Energy Group Ltd | – | – | – | 15,000,000 | – | – | – | 15,000,000 |
| China Southern Power Grid Co Ltd | – | 75,000,000 | – | – | – | – | – | 75,000,000 |
| BHP Group Ltd | – | – | – | 57,500,000 | 2,857,143 | – | – | 60,357,143 |
| China Water Affairs Group Ltd | 175,900,833 | – | 175,900,833 | 263,851,250 | – | – | – | 615,652,916 |
| Trafigura Group Pte Ltd | 190,866,640 | 257,062,742 | 135,871,167 | – | – | – | – | 583,800,549 |
| CK William UK Holdings Ltd | – | 76,166,369 | 112,058,167 | – | – | – | – | 188,224,536 |
| Ampol Ltd | 40,073,825 | – | 116,426,250 | – | – | – | – | 156,500,075 |
| Anglo American PLC | – | – | 27,166,290 | – | – | – | – | 27,166,290 |
| Origin Energy Ltd | 320,780,925 | – | 241,330,795 | 60,113,853 | 106,994,494 | – | – | 729,220,067 |
| Coles Group Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 24,812,011 | – | 24,812,011 |
| Beijing Enterprises Group Co Ltd | – | – | 32,826,083 | – | – | – | – | 32,826,083 |
| AGI Finance Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 182,353,945 | – | 182,353,945 |
| Sinochem Hong Kong Group Co Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 270,797,084 | – | 270,797,084 |
| DBCT Management Pty Ltd | 24,138,450 | – | 9,199,320 | – | – | – | – | 33,337,770 |
| Thai Oil PCL | – | – | 283,667,005 | 83,613,882 | 147,989,171 | – | – | 515,270,058 |
| Engie SA | – | 29,635,897 | – | – | 28,599,821 | – | – | 58,235,719 |
| United Petroleum Australia Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | 97,768,508 | – | – | 97,768,508 |
| Atco Ltd/Canada | – | – | 122,891,858 | – | – | – | – | 122,891,858 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 26,344,843 | – | 26,344,843 |
| Exxon Mobil Corp | 400,000,000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 400,000,000 |
| Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group Co Ltd | – | 50,000,000 | – | – | – | – | – | 50,000,000 |
| Genesis Energy Ltd | – | 21,842,394 | – | – | – | – | – | 21,842,394 |
| Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) | – | – | – | 166,666,667 | – | – | – | 166,666,667 |
| Aurizon Holdings Ltd | 28,598,048 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28,598,048 |
| Perusahaan Perseroan Persero PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara | – | – | 188,544,858 | 158,413,889 | – | – | – | 346,958,747 |
| GS Coal Pty Ltd | 119,097,816 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 119,097,816 |
| Puma Energy Holdings Pte Ltd | 110,291,795 | 134,185,962 | 92,834,875 | 43,908,387 | – | – | – | 381,221,019 |
| HK Electric Investments & HK Electric Investments Ltd | – | – | – | – | 26,731,203 | – | – | 26,731,203 |
| San Miguel Corp | – | 125,000,000 | 83,333,300 | 204,778,703 | – | – | – | 413,112,003 |
| HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd | – | 75,000,000 | – | – | – | – | – | 75,000,000 |
| Shell PLC | – | – | – | 388,000,000 | – | – | – | 388,000,000 |
| AGL Energy Ltd | – | – | – | 116,841,313 | – | – | – | 116,841,313 |
| State Grid Corp of China | 75,434,669 | 171,496,615 | 78,708,624 | – | – | 33,273,706 | – | 358,913,613 |
| Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd | – | – | – | 488,750,000 | – | – | – | 488,750,000 |
| Tata Power Co Ltd/The | 28,345,366 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28,345,366 |
| Australian Petroleum Investments Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 109,294,500 | – | 109,294,500 |
| TotalEnergies SE | – | – | – | – | 341,250,503 | – | – | 341,250,503 |
| John Wood Group PLC | – | – | – | – | – | 85,714,286 | – | 85,714,286 |
| Udenna Corp | – | – | – | – | 196,789,856 | – | – | 196,789,856 |
| Kestrel Coal Resources Pty Ltd | – | – | 194,857,143 | – | – | – | – | 194,857,143 |
| United Petroleum Pty Ltd | 232,629,458 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 232,629,458 |
| Khopoli Investments Ltd | – | – | – | 24,500,000 | – | – | – | 24,500,000 |
| Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd | – | – | 12,857,625 | – | – | – | – | 12,857,625 |
| Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) | 76,492,848 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 76,492,848 |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd | – | 200,114,659 | – | – | – | – | – | 200,114,659 |
| Beach Energy Ltd | – | – | 395,941,625 | – | – | 109,294,500 | – | 505,236,125 |
| Yunnan Provincial Investment Holdings Group Co Ltd | 7,500,000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7,500,000 |
| Medco Strait Services Pte Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 75,088,342 | – | 75,088,342 |
| China Hongqiao Holdings Ltd | 20,000,000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20,000,000 |
| Mercuria Energy Asset Management BV | 62,566,845 | 69,518,717 | 86,029,412 | 121,715,687 | – | – | – | 339,830,661 |
NAB Bank loans 2016-2022 for Fossil Fuels
From 2016 to 2022 the NAB Bank Fossil Fuel Company Total Financing: $7,484.46 million USD (All values in US$)
Investing in:
- Offshore oil and gas ranked 49th, with total investment of $29 million 2016-2022.
- Liquefied Natural Gas ranked 35th, with $17 million in 2022, total investment $327 million 2016-2022
- Coal Mining ranked 42nd, with a $40 million 2022 investment, $396 million 2016-2022
Oil and Gas Policy tracker
Global Evaluation
Projects: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to new oil and gas fields (score 5) but exceptions for gas projects in Australia (penalty -1).
Expansion: No commitment regarding this criterion
Phase-out: No commitment regarding this criterion
Source: ESG Risk Management, Annual Review 2021 (2022)
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to Arctic and Antarctic oil and gas upstream and pipeline projects / exclusion of new clients with a predominant focus on oil extraction / Arctic definition: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge area or any similar Antarctic Refuge (the limited geographical scope leads to the downgrading of the score).
Fracking: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to oil and gas extraction projects but potentially large exceptions for gas projects in Australia / exclusion of new clients with a predominant focus on oil extraction.
Tar sands: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to tar sands upstream projects / exclusion of new clients with a predominant focus on oil extraction.
Ultra-deep water: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to ultra-deep water oil and gas upstream projects / exclusion of new clients with a predominant focus on oil extraction.
Recommendations
National Australia Bank (NAB) updated its oil and gas policy in 2021. The policy mainly aims to exclude financial support for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas projects. The bank should now stop financing all oil and gas projects – extending the scope to conventional oil and gas and covering their whole value chain. At the corporate level, the bank’s exclusions only apply to new clients. The next policy of the Australian bank must introduce corporate-level exclusion measures for companies with oil and gas expansion plans. Finally, to give real credibility to its commitment to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, the bank must adopt a comprehensive phase-out strategy for the oil and gas industry, aligned with a 1.5°C scenario. This starts with conditioning financial support to an immediate commitment by companies to reduce their oil and gas production by 2030.
NAB Coal Policy
Evaluation Criteria By Criteria
– Projects: Exclusion of new thermal coal mining projects and new coal plants (score 8), but not covering all deals (malus 2, see the analysis below for the details).
– Relative: Exclusion of new clients in the thermal coal mining sector (score 1).
– Absolute: Exclusion of new clients in the thermal coal mining sector (score 1).
– Phase-out: Phase-out from the coal mining sector by 2030 (score 3), but phase-out commitment covering only lending, not underwriting (malus 2 but minimum score 1).
Source: Annual Review 2021 (9 November 2021), Climate report (2022)
Analysis & Next Steps
NAB updated its coal policy in November 2021 but it is still not sufficient to contribute to the climate goals set by the Paris Agreement. After having adopted a first policy in 2017 excluding some coal-related projects, the bank updated its policy in 2019 to include some exclusion thresholds and a phase-out strategy, which it improved in 2021. Yet these remain weak, and the bank must urgently extend its policy to existing clients and underwriting activities, exclude all coal developers, and adopt more restrictive thresholds. Additionally, the scope of application of NAB’s policy remains unclear, as it did not prevent the bank from funding the Coronado Global Resources’ Curragh coal mine expansion in 2018 and 2019, nor the New Hope Group’s New Acland thermal coal mine expansion in 2018, neither from providing a refinancing for Whitehaven Coal in February 2020, a company which is currently pursuing the Vickery coal mine, the Narrabri coal mine expansion, and the greenfield Winchester South project. So, it would appear that NAB does continue to finance new thermal coal mining projects.
| Company | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Grand Total |
| Vitol Holding BV | 123,636,000 | 151,000,000 | 206,111,111 | 197,272,727 | 183,181,818 | 195,000,000 | 208,750,000 | 1,264,951,656 |
| AusNet Services Ltd | – | 37,119,935 | 33,395,813 | 27,946,446 | 52,468,715 | – | 190,719,778 | 341,650,687 |
| Viva Energy Group Ltd | 275,000,000 | – | – | 140,000,000 | – | 140,000,000 | 140,000,000 | 695,000,000 |
| CLP Holdings Ltd | – | – | 120,892,427 | – | – | 95,505,443 | 117,515,970 | 333,913,840 |
| Cooper Energy Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | – | 71,909,250 | 71,909,250 |
| Glencore PLC | 65,313,126 | 45,843,750 | 66,119,985 | 111,677,419 | 154,693,338 | – | 46,412,903 | 490,060,521 |
| Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd | – | – | 12,857,625 | – | – | – | 20,874,500 | 33,732,125 |
| Cheniere Energy Inc | – | – | 62,400,000 | 109,412,308 | 134,074,074 | 125,862,069 | 17,200,000 | 448,948,451 |
| IGO Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 9,984,455 | 12,433,617 | 22,418,073 |
| Entrust | – | 13,839,373 | 19,046,468 | – | 11,142,723 | – | 9,403,333 | 53,431,898 |
| Infratil Ltd | – | – | 8,585,841 | 12,263,801 | 552,831 | – | 2,276,619 | 23,679,092 |
| Origin Energy Ltd | 320,780,925 | – | 241,330,795 | 149,403,642 | – | 181,636,890 | – | 893,152,252 |
| CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 173,794,500 | – | 173,794,500 |
| BHP Group Ltd | – | – | – | 57,500,000 | 2,857,143 | – | – | 60,357,143 |
| Kooragang Island Tank Terminals Pty Ltd | – | 6,827,676 | – | – | – | – | – | 6,827,676 |
| Coronado Group LLC | – | – | 172,343,380 | – | – | – | – | 172,343,380 |
| SSE PLC | – | 15,816,699 | – | – | – | – | – | 15,816,699 |
| DBCT Management Pty Ltd | – | – | 9,199,320 | – | – | – | – | 9,199,320 |
| APA Group | 35,059,388 | – | 70,127,118 | – | – | – | – | 105,186,505 |
| Buckeye Partners LP | – | – | – | 356,250,000 | – | 279,125,000 | – | 635,375,000 |
| ITOCHU Corp | – | 44,166,668 | – | – | – | – | – | 44,166,668 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 26,344,843 | – | 26,344,843 |
| NCIG Holdings Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 75,000,000 | – | 75,000,000 |
| Ampol Ltd | 101,714,333 | – | 116,426,250 | – | 91,961,875 | 91,317,125 | – | 401,419,583 |
| Santos Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 141,250,000 | – | 141,250,000 |
| Genesis Energy Ltd | – | 7,779,994 | 10,966,960 | – | – | 13,510,600 | – | 32,257,554 |
| State Grid Corp of China | 38,999,123 | 30,464,103 | 53,157,767 | – | – | – | – | 122,620,993 |
| GIP Titanium Finco Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 170,874,785 | – | 170,874,785 |
| Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd | – | – | – | 100,000,000 | – | – | – | 100,000,000 |
| Aurizon Holdings Ltd | 28,598,048 | – | – | – | – | 67,057,334 | – | 95,655,382 |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd | – | 200,114,659 | – | – | 93,728,832 | – | – | 293,843,491 |
| Freeport LNG Development LP | – | – | 24,000,000 | – | – | – | – | 24,000,000 |
| GasLog Ltd | – | – | – | 105,279,126 | – | – | – | 105,279,126 |
Westpac loans 2016-2022 for Fossil Fuels
From 2016 to 2022 the Westpac Bank Fossil Fuel Company Total Financing: $9,106.13 million USD (All values in US$)
Investing in:
- Arctic oil and gas ranked 45th with a $18 million investment 2016-2022
- Offshore oil and gas ranked 38th, with total investment of $1.240 billion 2016-2022.
- Liquefied Natural Gas ranked 43rd, total investment $487 million 2016-2022
- Coal Mining ranked 53rd, with $4 million 2016-2022
- Coal Power ranked 37th with $53 million 2016-2022
Oil and Gas Policy tracker
Global Evaluation
Projects: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to new oil & gas fields (score 5), but some exceptions for national energy security (penalty -1).
Expansion: No commitment regarding this criterion
Phase-out: No commitment regarding this criterion
Source: Climate Change Position Statement and 2023 Action Plan (November 2022)
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to Arctic oil & gas exploration projects / to new oil & gas fields / Arctic definition: not specified.
Fracking: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to shale oil & gas exploration projects / to new oil & gas fields.
Tar sands: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to tar sands exploration projects / to new oil & gas fields.
Ultra-deep water: Exclusion of financial services dedicated to ultra-deep water oil & gas exploration projects / to new oil & gas fields.
Recommendations
Westpac Banking Corporation updated its oil and gas policy in November 2022, which now excludes direct financial support to new oil and gas fields. Even if this exclusion is a step forward compared to Westpac’s previous policy, this measure should not be flawed by excpetions for “national energy security”; a number of other banks implement it in a systematic way. The bank should now stop financing all oil and gas projects – extending the scope to the midstream part of the oil and gas value chain – and, most importantly, introduce corporate-level exclusion measures for companies with oil and gas expansion plans. Finally, the Australian bank must adopt a comprehensive phase-out strategy for the oil and gas industry, aligned with a 1.5°C scenario. This starts with conditioning financial support to an immediate commitment by companies to reduce their oil and gas production by 2030.
Westpac Coal Policy
Evaluation Criteria By Criteria
– Projects: Exclusion of greenfield coal plants (score 3).
– Relative: Exclusion of new clients in the thermal coal mining sector (score 1).
– Absolute: Exclusion of new clients in the thermal coal mining sector (score 1).
– Phase-out: Phase-out from the coal mining sector by 2030 covering companies deriving more than 5% of their revenues from thermal coal mining (score 3), but only for lending (malus 2).
Source: Climate Change Position Statement (May 2020), Net Zero 2030 targets (July 2022), Climate Change Position Statement and Action Plan (November 2022).
Analysis & Next Steps
Westpac updated its coal policy in May 2020, July 2022 and November 2022 but it remains insufficient to achieve the climate objectives set by the Paris Agreement. It has committed to a weak 2030 phase-out from thermal coal mining by excluding companies deriving more than 5% of their revenues from thermal coal mining, but only for lending. The bank only excludes some greenfield coal plant projects, and excludes coal mining companies, but only for new clients, which is a giant loophole. Westpac also commits to reduce the emission intensity of its electricity generation portfolio. While this measure should lead to the exclusion of some coal companies, it does not guarantee the immediate exclusion of all largest coal power operators or of companies with coal expansion plans. Westpac must urgently exclude all coal projects and coal developers, adopt stringent immediate exclusion thresholds at the corporate level for its existing clients, and detail an overall strategy to fully exit coal, covering coal power, at the latest by 2030 in Europe/OECD countries, and 2040 worldwide.
See CAM Blog In May 2017: Westpac have a better climate policy on export coal than Liberal or Labor
| Company | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Grand Total |
| Woodside Energy Group Ltd | 66,666,667 | 266,666,666 | – | 300,000,000 | – | – | 300,000,000 | 933,333,333 |
| Vitol Holding BV | 123,636,000 | 151,000,000 | 206,111,111 | 197,272,727 | 183,181,818 | 195,000,000 | 208,750,000 | 1,264,951,656 |
| Aurizon Holdings Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | – | 179,167,090 | 179,167,090 |
| Inpex Corp | – | 455,769,230 | – | – | – | – | 66,000,000 | 521,769,230 |
| State Grid Corp of China | 38,999,123 | 30,464,103 | – | 42,734,497 | 28,838,181 | 52,474,470 | 53,849,821 | 247,360,195 |
| APA Group | 35,059,388 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 35,059,388 |
| Atco Ltd/Canada | – | – | 122,891,858 | – | – | – | – | 122,891,858 |
| Ampol Ltd | 40,073,825 | – | 27,871,458 | – | – | – | – | 67,945,283 |
| Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) | – | – | – | 166,666,667 | 111,111,111 | – | – | 277,777,778 |
| Reliance Industries Ltd | 54,112,262 | 102,380,405 | 85,904,220 | 64,495,356 | – | – | – | 306,892,243 |
| Shandong Qingyuan Group Co Ltd | – | 112,614,448 | – | – | – | – | – | 112,614,448 |
| AusNet Services Ltd | 53,106,537 | – | 84,738,448 | – | 61,447,832 | 58,047,043 | – | 257,339,860 |
| Anglo American PLC | – | – | 27,166,290 | – | – | – | – | 27,166,290 |
| Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd | – | – | – | 300,000,000 | – | – | – | 300,000,000 |
| Infratil Ltd | 5,466,417 | 6,982,439 | – | – | – | – | – | 12,448,856 |
| BHP Group Ltd | – | – | – | 57,500,000 | 2,857,143 | – | – | 60,357,143 |
| Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) | 76,492,848 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 76,492,848 |
| China Gas Holdings Ltd | – | – | 99,084,845 | – | – | – | – | 99,084,845 |
| Origin Energy Ltd | 320,780,925 | – | 241,330,795 | – | 106,994,494 | 181,636,890 | – | 850,743,104 |
| Coronado Group LLC | – | – | 172,343,380 | 450,020,619 | – | – | – | 622,363,999 |
| Santos Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 141,250,000 | – | 141,250,000 |
| DBCT Management Pty Ltd | 24,138,450 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24,138,450 |
| South32 Ltd | – | – | – | 450,000,000 | – | 420,000,000 | – | 870,000,000 |
| Entrust | – | – | – | 8,064,452 | – | 7,799,810 | – | 15,864,262 |
| State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) | – | – | 20,851,333 | 36,506,377 | – | – | – | 57,357,710 |
| Toyota Tsusho Corp | – | 26,369,287 | – | – | – | – | – | 26,369,287 |
| Wesfarmers Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 26,344,843 | – | 26,344,843 |
| Genesis Energy Ltd | 6,781,000 | – | – | – | 6,569,200 | – | – | 13,350,200 |
| Whitehaven Coal Ltd | – | 200,114,659 | – | – | 93,728,832 | – | – | 293,843,491 |
| IGO Ltd | – | – | – | – | – | 9,984,455 | – | 9,984,455 |
| AGI Finance Pty Ltd | – | – | – | – | 232,172,838 | – | – | 232,172,838 |
| Indian Oil Corp Ltd | – | – | – | 1,019,700,000 | – | – | – | 1,019,700,000 |
Other Financial Institutions
What about other Financial Institutions. The report lists several other organisations including Australian Super (Asset Owner), Future Fund Management Agency (Asset Owner), Macquarie AM (Asset Manager), QBE as both an asset owner and Re-insurer.
Australian Super
Global Evaluation
Projects: No policy
Expansion: No policy
Phase-out: No policy
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: No policy
Fracking: No policy
Tar sands: No policy
Ultra-deep water: No policy
Recommendations
Six years after the Paris Agreement, and while the IEA acknowledges the need to stop oil and gas new fields expansion, AustralianSuper still has not adopted any group-wide exclusion measure towards the oil and gas sector. AustralianSuper must now exclude companies with oil and gas expansion plans and adopt a phase-out strategy from the oil and gas industry according to a specific timeframe, aligned with principles of equity and a 1.5°C timeline, and with an intermediate phase-out date of 2030 for unconventional oil and gas. It is time to act.
Future Fund Management Agency
Global Evaluation
Projects: No policy
Expansion: No policy
Phase-out: No policy
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: No policy
Fracking: No policy
Tar sands: No policy
Ultra-deep water: No policy
Recommendations
Six years after the Paris Agreement, and while the IEA acknowledges the need to stop oil and gas new fields expansion, Future Fund Management Agency still has not adopted any exclusion measure towards the oil and gas sector. Future Fund Management Agency must now exclude companies with oil and gas expansion plans and adopt a phase-out strategy from the oil and gas industry according to a specific timeframe, aligned with principles of equity and a 1.5°C timeline, and with an intermediate phase-out date of 2030 for unconventional oil and gas. It is time to act.
Macquarie AM
Global Evaluation
Projects: No policy
Expansion: No policy
Phase-out: No policy
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: No policy
Fracking: No policy
Tar sands: No policy
Ultra-deep water: No policy
Recommendations
Six years after the Paris Agreement, and while the IEA acknowledges the need to stop oil and gas new fields expansion, Macquarie AM still has not adopted any exclusion measure towards the oil and gas sector. As a signatory of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, Macquarie AM must now exclude companies with oil and gas expansion plans and adopt a phase-out strategy from the oil and gas industry according to a specific timeframe, aligned with principles of equity and a 1.5°C timeline, and with an intermediate phase-out date of 2030 for unconventional oil and gas. It is time to act.
QBE
Global Evaluation
Projects: No policy
Expansion: No policy
Phase-out: No policy
Focus On Unconventional Fossil Fuels
Arctic: No policy
Fracking: No policy
Tar sands: No policy
Ultra-deep water: No policy
Recommendations
QBE published an environmental and social risk framework in early 2022. In this document, the Australian insurer states that it will seek to reduce its exposure to the companies operating in these activities, but no value chain or corporate threshold is specified. The investor should commit to systematically exclude all unconventional sectors and conventional oil and gas, cover the whole value chain and firmly address the issue of expansion in oil and gas activities by stopping investing in companies with expansion plans. Finally, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance member should urgently adopt a phase-out strategy from all upstream and midstream oil and gas activities according to a specific timeframe, aligned with principles of equity and a 1.5°C timeline, and with an intermediate phase-out date of 2030 for unconventional oil and gas. It is time to act.
What can you do?
If you bank with one of the Big 4 banks, you can switch to a bank that does not invest in Fossil Fuels. Market Forces have a page on how to switch banks. Remember to let both your new bank and old bank know why you are switching banks.
Also checkout the Market Forces Super Fund Comparison Table. You are able to move your supeerannuation investment to a fund that does not invest in fossil fuels.
See our Climate Action Merribek Divestment page.
References:
- Banking on Climate Chaos report 2023 website https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/
- Banking in Climate Chaos 2023 Report (PDF) https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/BOCC_2023_vFinal-4-19.pdf
Entry filed under: climate change info, Climate Emergency, divestment, news. Tags: ANZ, Banking, Commonwealth Bank, divestment, NAB, Westpac.
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