Info for CommBank staff
Find information here to learn more about the impacts of oil and gas projects on our climate and communities, and how you can take action internally to shift CommBank away from these toxic investments.
The opportunity
On August 9, CommBank will announce their updated Environment and Social Framework that will include new rules around fossil fuel lending.
Given CommBank’s commitments to the Paris Agreement and net zero emissions by 2050, it should end all oil and gas lending to projects and companies.
CommBank can lead the big 4 and play a vital part in addressing climate change, avoid risky stranded assets, and protect communities at the point of extraction. CommBank’s investments in clean energy are being undermined while the bank still finances fossil fuels.
The threat:
In 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted that there is no room for new or expanded coal, oil and gas projects in commitments to net zero emissions.
Fossil fuel projects like Santos’ Barossa gas project, Woodside’s drilling in WA and fracking projects across much of the NT put Traditional Owners, farmland, water and our climate at risk – backing these projects and companies aligns CommBank’s brand with harmful operations and facilitates these new projects going ahead when we simply cannot afford it.
The climate crisis is here and now – extreme floods, fires, heatwaves and storms are having a devastating impact on communities here and overseas. Facilitating the expansion of new oil and gas fields will only worsen these events and load the dice for them to happen more frequently.
Learn more about gas basins and CommBank’s recent corporate loans to fossil fuels here.
What you can do as a CommBank team member:
CommBank cares about what their staff think. If enough people raise their concerns about oil and gas internally, you could influence the final outcome of the lending policy review currently before the board.
- Talk to your manager about the issue – ask questions, talk about projects you’re concerned about and see what they say
- Talk to your colleagues about the issue – share the website or flyer with them, put the flyer up in the lunch room or organise a briefing from a 350 representative
- Fill in the staff survey – complete this anonymous survey to capture staff sentiment about climate change and fossil fuels and we will deliver the results to the board and executive.
What can CommBank do?
This is what we’re asking of CommBank:
Rule Out
Immediately stop financing companies and projects expanding coal, oil and gas
Divest
Reduce all fossil fuel exposure to zero by 2030
Invest
Invest in the rapid and just transition to renewable energy
We can have a better future, safe from the impacts of climate change.
