A group of people, including a number from coal-affected communities have today delivered a
load of coal to the front of the Commonwealth Bank’s Harbour Street office in Sydney in order to highlight
the consequences of their fossil fuel lending policies.
The coal has been placed in front of the main entrance to the building alongside posters highlighting the impacts of the Commonwealth Bank’s climate policy on community health, the environment, and the global climate.
“The Commonwealth Bank’s climate policy promises to support a transition to net zero emissions by 2050 but their actions make a mockery of that promise,” Greenpeace campaigner Jonathan Moylan said.
“By failing to exclude highly polluting fossil fuel projects like coal mines CommBank are funding projects that destroy our environment, take a catastrophic toll on the health of communities, and accelerate climate change.”
Since March more than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for CommBank to rule out investment in new coal projects. But in October CommBank released a one-page “Climate Policy Position Statement” which contains no restrictions around lending to coal projects - the only of the “big four” to fail to do this[1].
Newcastle resident and grandfather John Hayes lives within 200 metres of the world’s largest coal port in Carrington, for which the Commonwealth Bank was a mandated lead arranger.
“The Commonwealth Bank is damaging the air quality of my community which is putting the health of my seven grandchildren at risk,” Mr Hayes said. “I have come to Sydney today to attempt to deliver a bag of coal back to CommBank’s CEO, Ian Narev.”
Analysis by environmental finance group Market Forces shows that the Commonwealth Bank has loaned AU$6 billion to fossil fuel companies in the last eighteen months [2].
Despite public commitments to take action to limit global warming to no more than two degrees in late 2015 Commonwealth Bank last year loaned more than $3.8 billion to coal, gas and oil mining and infrastructure projects, making it the biggest funder of dirty fossil fuels in Australia in 2016.
“By continuing to invest in the coal industry, CommBank have failed both the Australian people and their own shareholders by exposing them to the risk of catastrophic climate change,” Moylan said.
“CommBank must change their climate policy before their AGM to recognise that climate related risks are real and to take significant measures to curb them.”
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