Every big bank in Australia including the big 4 offers some version of a green loan.
It’s where you can’t qualify for the loan unless you meet a number of environmental criteria.
This is great.
The shame about it is that those banks still use that money to fund fossil fuel projects (according to the most accurate and up-to-data data I’ve been able to find, which is from 2020).
Like, a lot of money.
Here’s how much just the big 4 banks in Aus loaned to fossil fuel projects between 2016 and 2020:
That’s billion. 9 zeroes. Over $44,000,000,000 from just 4 banks (there are 97 banks in Australia).
Each bank publishes is own ESG report which attempts to address some of the questions around this investment. I gave myself 10 minutes to read one ESG report that was 57 pages long, but didn’t bother finishing my allotted 10 minutes. I actually couldn’t see enough past the smoke-and-mirrors, that it all just looked like a highly polished piece of fluff, so I abandoned it.
If you haven’t already, it’s 👏 time 👏 to 👏 switch 👏 banks.
At the risk of sounding like a crazy conspiracy theorist, that’s your cash they’re using.
Check the Market Forces website for alternatives (filter by “Banks with no record of funding fossil fuels since 2016”). Be aware of new hip banks like Ubank – they’re owned by NAB.
If you see a regular bank with “green” products, picture a big buyer beware sticker warning above it.
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