Key Points
- Australia's four biggest banks are accused of $7 billion fossil fuel lending despite Paris climate goals.
- Loopholes allow for indirect corporate finance for coal, oil, and gas projects.
- Banks are being criticised for greenwashing and urged to disclose fossil fuel lending.
Australia's biggest four banks have been accused of pouring more than $7 billion into the expansion of fossil fuels in the past two years despite backing the Paris climate goals.
Environmental group Market Forces says that in the seven years since the global Paris Agreement, ANZ, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac have dished out $57.5 billion in finance to coal, oil and gas companies.
Its analysis suggests the big banks have been exploiting loopholes in their own restrictions on fossil fuel lending.
While the banks now have rules that stop them from directly financing new fossil fuel projects, they can still provide indirect corporate finance to the companies building such projects.
Almost 70 per cent of total fossil fuel lending since 2016 has occurred in this way.
NAB's status as "Australia's most regressive bank" on climate action has been enough to prompt retired Sydney software architect Hugh Vaughan to take his business elsewhere.
"It has been clear for some time that our banking system isn't showing the concern that people have about fossil fuels," he said.
Mr Vaughan said the exploitation of loopholes to lend to fossil fuel companies amounted to greenwashing and manipulation.
He plans to shift his finances away from the big four banks.
Market Forces acting chief executive officer Will van de Pol said the big banks needed to come clean with their customers on their fossil fuel lending.
"The big four are making global warming worse by bankrolling climate wreckers like Santos, Woodside and Whitehaven Coal," Mr Van de Pol said.
All four of Australia's major banks support the Paris climate goals and have committed to net zero emissions by 2050.
