Foreign pension giants sour on Westpac (ASX:WBC) and NAB (ASX:NAB) over green issues
Overseas superannuation funds, which manage hundreds of billions of dollars, backed shareholder resolutions from environmental groups pressing for changes from Westpac and National Australia Bank at their annual meetings this week.
Westpac’s fossil fuel loans are likely to be a key topic of discussion at the bank’s annual meeting in Sydney on Thursday after environmental group Market Forces put forward a resolution it said would require the bank to demonstrate how fossil fuel financing, including from oil and gas businesses, is compatible with global climate targets.
The resolution, co-submitted by fund manager Australian Ethical, has support from offshore funds including the New York City Pension Fund, Norwegian pension fund KLP and Calpers, the $US500bn ($754bn) fund for Californian public sector workers.
On Friday, NAB faces a separate decision over the funding of businesses allegedly involved in clearing natural forests, submitted by shareholders working with the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). Calpers and a 200 billion euro ($350 billion) Italian asset manager called Anima support this decision.
The two decisions, opposed by bank boards, highlight ongoing pressure on Australian banks over environmental issues, including the industry’s central role in the country’s transition from fossil fuels to green energy.
Westpac faced criticism from environmental critics earlier this year who suggested the bank was taking a more tolerant approach to fossil fuel emitters after changes to its policies, including shifting its global warming target from 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels to “well below 2 degrees”.
In response to the AGM decision, Westpac’s sustainability chief Fiona Wild said the bank supported the transition to a net-zero economy and that fossil fuel loans constituted a small part of the total risk.
He also pointed out that the demand for energy and electricity is increasing.
“In the longer term gas will play a diminishing role, but gas is still needed in the energy transition as outlined by the Government’s Future Gas Strategy and the Australian Energy Market Operator,” he said. “Balancing the priority of decarbonizing the economy with the need to maintain energy security and affordability will be critical in this transition.”
The bank said in a preliminary assessment of interested business customers, 9 percent of them received a “D” grade on their transition plans, meaning new financing would be rejected.
But while critics accused the bank of diluting its climate position, Market Forces senior banking analyst Morgan Pickett said: “Westpac betrayed its shareholders and customers by scrapping its science-based climate policy and replacing it with a policy full of loopholes that resemble Swiss cheese.”
Australian Ethical argued Westpac’s changes meant the bank could continue financing companies involved in fossil fuel development, contrary to previous commitments. “Westpac is no longer a climate frontrunner among the big four banks,” said Amanda Richman, ethics governance lead at Australian Ethical.
Last year Westpac faced a similar shareholder decision; This decision was rejected but received the support of 34 percent of the votes cast.
Another closely watched vote at Westpac’s AGM on Thursday will be the re-election of non-executive director Peter Nash, after two proxy firms reportedly advised shareholders to oppose Nash’s re-election, marking his time on the board of ASX Limited, which has faced a series of setbacks recently. Westpac’s board backed Nash’s re-election.
NAB’s annual meeting in Melbourne, a day after Westpac’s meeting, will not include a vote on climate change issues after Market Forces withdrew a decision following the publication of the bank’s latest climate report.
But on a new front for banks, NAB faces a decision that will require the bank to disclose how much credit it has given to customers involved in the “deforestation” process. This means loss of natural forests due to land conversion to agriculture, conversion to afforestation, or severe and persistent degradation occurring.
NAB’s board, which opposed the decision, said the bank had improved its approach to investigating those suspected of illegal land swaps by customers and how it dealt with this risk, including the training of bankers.
ACF has previously said that the expansion of the beef industry is the major cause of deforestation in the country and NAB is the largest agricultural bank in the country. Italy’s Anima and US-based Calpers said they voted in favor.
It is unclear whether the decisions will be supported by Australian super funds. Major funds AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust and HESTA did not announce their voting intentions before the meetings.
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Clancy Yeates is deputy business editor. He covered banking and financial services and was previously a national business correspondent in the Canberra bureau.Connect with: excitement or email.
