Shocking new report reveals upsetting details about how major banks are investing billions of dollars: 'I'm frustrated'

A recent report has made a tally of how much Australian banks are funding the fossil fuel industry, and it isn't pretty, according to Choice. 

What's happening?

Australian nonprofit Market Forces released a report that identified how much major banks were financing these polluting businesses. It found that 10 banks had poured 74.4 billion Australian dollars (about $48 billion) into coal, oil, and gas in 2023 alone.

According to the report, from 2016 to 2023, Australia-based bank ANZ committed 35 billion Australian dollars (over $22 billion) to fossil fuels. NAB spent 23.2 billion Australian dollars (about $15 billion) in the same timeframe, and Westpac spent 14.9 billion Australian dollars (about $9.6 billion).

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia sent 23.9 billion Australian dollars (about $15.3 billion) to fossil fuel projects, though it later announced plans to stop financing for oil, gas, and coal without a strong climate plan.

NAB, ANZ, and Westpac have also made commitments to transition from fossil fuel investments, though the numbers indicate those promises are being implemented slowly, according to Choice. 

Why is fossil fuel financing important?

Since the fossil fuel industry has become a less profitable investment, it also depends on subsidies and financing. As long as the industry keeps burning fuels, it'll contribute heat-trapping gases, which raise the world's temperatures, exacerbate destructive weather patterns, raise sea levels, and acidify oceans.

Everyday Australians are eager to get the banks to change their behaviors.

"The banks in Australia really could make a big difference. I'm frustrated," farmer Peter Lake, who is struggling with the climate's effect on his business, told Choice. "I wish I was a significant customer of theirs so that I could take action they would care about, but they don't make enough money out of us to care if I got up and walked." 

What's being done about fossil fuel financing?

The good news is that 85 out of the 103 banks that Market Forces examined didn't finance fossil fuels. Governments are starting to hold back on public funds going to fossil fuel companies, and private investors are also seeing the signs.

"The trend across the big four [Australian banks] is that fossil fuel lending in general is coming down," Market Forces banking analyst Kyle Robertson said to Choice. "But where fossil fuel lending is still occurring, which is still in the billions of dollars, the vast majority of that continues to go to companies with fossil fuel expansion plans, which we know is incompatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement."

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