Climate change activists will aim to give the big banks a $200m bloody nose on Saturday, in the latest round of what has been an increasingly bitter campaign to force the divestment of companies with fossil fuel interests.
A “national day of divestment” will see more than 1,000 bank customers switch their accounts away from the “big four” banks: ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and NAB.
Campaign organisers Market Forces and 350.org claim that the major banks have already lost $250m worth of business from customers in the past year due to their continued financing of fossil fuel projects.
They estimate a further $200m will be stripped away on Saturday, deriving the figure from total assets including loans and insurance.
The day of action follows the rancour that greeted the Australian National University’s decision to divest from seven resource companies for ethical reasons.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, called the move “stupid”, while Christopher Pyne, the education minister, labelled it “bizarre”.
Jamie Briggs, the assistant infrastructure minister, has written to Ian Young, vice-chancellor of ANU, to urge him to reconsider the divestment, claiming that it damages the reputation of Santos, one of the blacklisted companies.
Divestment activists claim the furious reaction to ANU’s divestment shows that the campaign to financially undermine the fossil fuel industry is being taken seriously. Last year an academic and climate activist, Bill McKibben, who has led a forerunner divestment campaign in the US, visited Australia and called for similar action.
McKibben argued that the majority of Australian coal must stay in the ground if the world is to keep to its goal of a 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise, adding that if you invest in fossil fuels “you’re betting that we’re going to tank the Earth”.
A year on and a flurry of organisations have recently divested or distanced themselves from fossil fuels, including Bendigo Bank, Local Government Super, the Perth Anglican Diocese, the Canberra Anglican Diocese, the Australian National University, Moreland City Council and Anglican National Super.
The University of Sydney is reviewing its involvement with coal mining projects, while campaigners are confident other institutions are set to follow suit.
Australia’s union movement has indicated to Guardian Australia that it, too, supports change in energy investment. “Investment in the clean energy industry is vital if Australia is to create and capitalise on the high skilled, innovative, clean tech jobs of the future,” said Ged Kearney, the ACTU president.
“The ACTU would encourage all superannuation funds to consider investment choices in light of their social and responsible investment policies.”
Julien Vincent, lead campaigner for Market Forces, said: “This campaign is most definitely gathering pace. I’ve been unable to keep up with all the divestment announcements. Fund managers were talking about climate change for a while and now we are starting to see the results.
“I know there are institutions talking about divesting, they are concerned from a climate and financial standpoint. We had no idea we’d be in this position a year ago, when it was just a couple of dozen of us in front of ANZ in Bourke Street in Melbourne.
“Tony Abbott is already on the wrong side of history when it comes to climate change. ANU is a sign that the campaign is gathering momentum and that it has the government scared.”
While the campaign has got activists and some students energised, the financial fortunes of the energy industry are tied to several competing market factors.
The depressed price of coal and China’s new 6% tariff on imported coal are probably more likely to concern the industry, and the banks, than a few people shifting their accounts.
“Climate risk is becoming well understood in mainstream capital markets but divestment is just one response investors will make,” said Nathan Fabian, chief executive of the Investor Group on Climate Change.
“Energy markets are in transition globally, climate regulation is changing rapidly and the level of risk is very high for investors. Tony Abbott saying coal is good for humanity is an unfortunate simplification of what’s a tectonic shift in energy markets.
“Coal company equity values are down by more than 50% in the last two years and a lot of them have a lot of debt. There are serious issues for the market.
“There are many different levers moving at the same time and no individual lever gets the outcome. But consumer action sends a signal. People moving their accounts or pension funds because of climate change is significant.”
The divestment campaign has been most noticeable when targeted at individual projects, such as the Maules Creek mine in NSW and the Abbot Point coal terminal, which will sit alongside the Great Barrier Reef.
But beyond the placards and fury, the mining industry insists that the hard-nosed investment decisions will continue to be made in favour of Australia’s abundant coal and the world’s growing energy needs.
“The minerals industry will always take seriously any effort that is explicitly designed to stigmatise or demonise the industry,” said Brendan Pearson, chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia. “The divestment campaign certainly has all the features of a stunt but we will respond to it with characteristic vigour.
“Publicity does not equal impact. To date, all the empirical evidence suggests that the campaign has been more effective in securing coverage than it has in convincing the vast majority of investors and fund managers to divest from the resources sector.”
Pearson said investment managers were “smarter than the activists give them credit for”.
“They will focus on the medium to long term and the outlook for the resources sector, including coal, is very positive,” he said. “All authoritative commodity forecasting agencies agree on that.”
theguardian.com
A “national day of divestment” will see more than 1,000 bank customers switch their accounts away from the “big four” banks: ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and NAB.
Campaign organisers Market Forces and 350.org claim that the major banks have already lost $250m worth of business from customers in the past year due to their continued financing of fossil fuel projects.
They estimate a further $200m will be stripped away on Saturday, deriving the figure from total assets including loans and insurance.
The day of action follows the rancour that greeted the Australian National University’s decision to divest from seven resource companies for ethical reasons.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, called the move “stupid”, while Christopher Pyne, the education minister, labelled it “bizarre”.
Jamie Briggs, the assistant infrastructure minister, has written to Ian Young, vice-chancellor of ANU, to urge him to reconsider the divestment, claiming that it damages the reputation of Santos, one of the blacklisted companies.
Divestment activists claim the furious reaction to ANU’s divestment shows that the campaign to financially undermine the fossil fuel industry is being taken seriously. Last year an academic and climate activist, Bill McKibben, who has led a forerunner divestment campaign in the US, visited Australia and called for similar action.
McKibben argued that the majority of Australian coal must stay in the ground if the world is to keep to its goal of a 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise, adding that if you invest in fossil fuels “you’re betting that we’re going to tank the Earth”.
A year on and a flurry of organisations have recently divested or distanced themselves from fossil fuels, including Bendigo Bank, Local Government Super, the Perth Anglican Diocese, the Canberra Anglican Diocese, the Australian National University, Moreland City Council and Anglican National Super.
The University of Sydney is reviewing its involvement with coal mining projects, while campaigners are confident other institutions are set to follow suit.
Australia’s union movement has indicated to Guardian Australia that it, too, supports change in energy investment. “Investment in the clean energy industry is vital if Australia is to create and capitalise on the high skilled, innovative, clean tech jobs of the future,” said Ged Kearney, the ACTU president.
“The ACTU would encourage all superannuation funds to consider investment choices in light of their social and responsible investment policies.”
Julien Vincent, lead campaigner for Market Forces, said: “This campaign is most definitely gathering pace. I’ve been unable to keep up with all the divestment announcements. Fund managers were talking about climate change for a while and now we are starting to see the results.
“I know there are institutions talking about divesting, they are concerned from a climate and financial standpoint. We had no idea we’d be in this position a year ago, when it was just a couple of dozen of us in front of ANZ in Bourke Street in Melbourne.
“Tony Abbott is already on the wrong side of history when it comes to climate change. ANU is a sign that the campaign is gathering momentum and that it has the government scared.”
While the campaign has got activists and some students energised, the financial fortunes of the energy industry are tied to several competing market factors.
The depressed price of coal and China’s new 6% tariff on imported coal are probably more likely to concern the industry, and the banks, than a few people shifting their accounts.
“Climate risk is becoming well understood in mainstream capital markets but divestment is just one response investors will make,” said Nathan Fabian, chief executive of the Investor Group on Climate Change.
“Energy markets are in transition globally, climate regulation is changing rapidly and the level of risk is very high for investors. Tony Abbott saying coal is good for humanity is an unfortunate simplification of what’s a tectonic shift in energy markets.
“Coal company equity values are down by more than 50% in the last two years and a lot of them have a lot of debt. There are serious issues for the market.
“There are many different levers moving at the same time and no individual lever gets the outcome. But consumer action sends a signal. People moving their accounts or pension funds because of climate change is significant.”
The divestment campaign has been most noticeable when targeted at individual projects, such as the Maules Creek mine in NSW and the Abbot Point coal terminal, which will sit alongside the Great Barrier Reef.
But beyond the placards and fury, the mining industry insists that the hard-nosed investment decisions will continue to be made in favour of Australia’s abundant coal and the world’s growing energy needs.
“The minerals industry will always take seriously any effort that is explicitly designed to stigmatise or demonise the industry,” said Brendan Pearson, chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia. “The divestment campaign certainly has all the features of a stunt but we will respond to it with characteristic vigour.
“Publicity does not equal impact. To date, all the empirical evidence suggests that the campaign has been more effective in securing coverage than it has in convincing the vast majority of investors and fund managers to divest from the resources sector.”
Pearson said investment managers were “smarter than the activists give them credit for”.
“They will focus on the medium to long term and the outlook for the resources sector, including coal, is very positive,” he said. “All authoritative commodity forecasting agencies agree on that.”
theguardian.com
No comments:
Post a Comment