ANZ, who has policies in place to “assess the potential environmental impact of our corporate clients”, has provided over $1 billion for coal ports and liquefied natural gas plants within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area since 2008.
This year they also sponsored the New Zealand Petroleum Summit, promoting fossil fuel extraction here in New Zealand.
It’s not a pleasant feeling, learning that your bank – the custodian of your money – is lending billions of dollars to projects that damage the environment and drive climate change. But the good news is that, by working together, we can change this.
By withdrawing our money, or “divesting”, from the banks that are funding carbon pollution, we are removing the social license of companies that pollute our atmosphere and block political action on climate change. Instead, we can choose to move our money to banks that are 100% fossil fuel free, or at least free of the 200 largest fossil fuel companies on the planet.
Write to ANZ Senior Execs, David Hisco and Jeremy Salthouse, and let them know that you are putting ANZ on notice.