Rebels call on ANZ, Westpac and NAB to ditch Santos
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 27 Aug 2024
Activists unite to raise their voices in a nationwide call on banks to live up to their own climate promises by not lending to Santos.
One of Australia’s largest producers of oil and gas, Santos is pursuing dangerous expansion plans, building two new gas projects, the Barossa project in Tiwi Islands and Narrabri project in New South Wales. Local banks ANZ, Westpac and NAB are among lenders continuing to finance Santos, despite their own claims of supporting the Paris Agreement to pursue net zero emissions by 2050. All three banks are signatories to the United Nations’ Net-Zero Banking Alliance, aligning them with the goals of the 2016 Paris Agreement, yet they have collectively loaned $45.3 billion to the fossil fuel industry over the past eight years. This new joint loan to Santos demonstrates they have no intention of stopping.
In contrast to ANZ, Westpac and NAB, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has recently announced that it will ‘no longer provide finance to oil and gas producing companies that don’t have a Paris-aligned transition plan’.
On Wednesday 21 August Extinction Rebellion joined in with other activists in a nationwide day of protest led by Market Forces. Staged in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, activists demanded that Santos abandon their expansion plans and that the banks abide by their public commitments to the Paris Agreement and cease funding expansion of the fossil fuel industry. In Adelaide, a vibrant, noisy march visited the offices of ANZ, Westpac and NAB, finishing up at Santos’ headquarters. The Sydney rally was held at the headquarters of the Westpac bank and in Melbourne, the rally visited NAB and ANZ headquarters.
Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Anna Slynn states:
With the impacts of the climate crisis being felt across the globe and average temperatures rising, we cannot afford to expand coal, oil or gas production. It beggars belief that three of our major banks are about to lend more money to climate wrecking fossil fuel company Santos.
We will continue to take a stand against the greed and destruction of the fossil fuel industry and its financial enablers. This loan must be stopped. We call on ANZ, Westpac and NAB customers and shareholders to join us by complaining directly to their bank, switching to another bank, or investing elsewhere.
More on the Santos campaign can be found on the Market Forces website.
