'The writing's on the wall': Australia's largest mortgage lender [CBA] sets the tone after ditching climate culprits
'The writing's on the wall': Australia's largest mortgage lender [CBA] sets the tone after ditching climate culprits
Australia's biggest bank is blacklisting fossil fuel companies that can't show genuine efforts to reduce emissions, putting pressure on other finance institutions to follow suit.
- In short: Australia's largest mortgage lender [CBA] is no longer offering money to fossil fuel companies that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement.
- The bank announced the new direction in its latest climate report, published on the same day it posted close to $10 billion in full-year net profit.
- What's next? The spotlight is now on the other big banks with a finance deal of about $750 million for oil and gas giant Santos on the table.
Looks like we've made some progress since Chaser's 2022 Greenwashing Award
Who gets to define "genuine"? Don't get me wrong, this sounds good, but money and fossil fuels have been bedmates for a very long time.
Commonwealth Bank uses independent assessors to check the transition plans of its fossil fuel clients, and if they do not meet the bank's criteria, it will not loan to them.
Another part of a company's transition plan that will come under scrutiny is the emissions that it covers.
CBA required scope three emissions to be included in the reports. These are the emissions that come from the products the company produces, such as the emissions from gas that is exported and burnt offshore.
Unnamed third party / third parties (also not named in the report). Probably a company like MSCI or something?