CBA recently released its updated climate policy which includes a host of new fossil fuel finance restrictions. It’s the breakthrough we and other community organisations have been campaigning so hard for, and sets a benchmark for other big banks like ANZ, NAB and Westpac to follow.
The new policy categorically rules out direct finance for all new and expanded oil and gas extraction projects, as well as some critical enabling infrastructure, such as pipelines to new oil and gas fields. However, CBA has failed to rule out lending to new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, which can unlock new gas fields and pose some of the greatest threats to curbing climate change globally.
CBA has also said it will not fund any fossil fuel company from 2025 that does not have an independently verified plan to cut all emissions – including from the end use their coal, oil and gas – in line with the Paris Agreement.
Market Forces have provided a detailed breakdown of the policy on their website.
The updated policy shows CBA is continuing to head in the right direction with its climate commitments, and it’s a testament to the effective campaigning and hard work of FSU members and our brother and sister organisations like Market Forces, who we worked closely with to call on CBA to make these commitments.
This shows that people power can indeed shift even the biggest financial institutions to do the right thing.
CBA still has improvements to make, and we’ll be calling on other big banks to meet the benchmark they’ve set, so our work is not yet done. But in the meantime, congratulations to everyone who stood up and campaigned for real climate action.
If you’d like to get involved in our campaign for climate justice, please let us know.
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