Greenpeace targets big four

Environmental organisation Greenpeace has hit the big four banks with its latest report, which found they are the biggest financiers of coal power in Australia.

The report, conducted by the specialist finance research group, Profundo, revealed Australia’s big four banks have placed more than $5 billion into mining, transporting and burning coal over the last five years, six times the amount loaned to renewable energy in the same period.

Greenpeace climate campaigner, John Hepburn, said the building of new coal plants depended largely on the big four banks, calling them the pillars of pollution in Australia.

“While they spend a huge amount of time and money creating an image of sustainability and environmental concern, they are quietly using billions of dollars of Australians’ money to pollute our future,” said Hepburn.

Out of the big four, ANZ, has placed the largest amount of money into the coal industry over the past five years, investing around $1.75 billion in total, followed closely by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with both Westpac and National Australia Bank (NAB) with $1 billion worth of coal investments over this period.

The report also found ANZ and NAB last year invested over $1 billion in the construction of Australia’s newest coal power station, Bluewater II.