Dear Mr Clyne, Ms Kelly, Mr Narev and Mr Smith,
We write to urge you to adopt a critical change to your banks’ investment policies.
Australia stands on the verge of a fossil fuel expansion that would jeopardise the possibility of containing global warming to below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels – a key marker for the prospects of a safe climate for future generations to enjoy.
As Australia’s four largest banks and heaviest lenders to coal and gas projects, you have a vital role in determining the fate of proposed new fossil fuel projects. You will be met with requests to provide finance and other forms of investment for these projects. For the sake of a safe climate, these requests must be denied.
Specifically we are asking you to demonstrate courage and leadership by adopting the following two policy changes:
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1.
Place an immediate prohibition on loans to new fossil fuel extraction projects and the infrastructure required to enable them, and
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2.
Sell down all stakes held either directly or through third parties in companies engaged in fossil fuel extraction.
There is very little time remaining to avoid catastrophic climate change. The International Energy Agency’s Chief Economist, Fatih Birol, said in late 2011 that the world had only five years in which to move off a fossil fuel pathway. Many of the projects that will be seeking your investment would operate for decades, making them entirely incompatible with any serious effort to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Others are warning of the economic risks of continued investment in fossil fuels. If the world is to avoid 2˚C of global warming it will mean leaving the vast bulk of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground. Failing to acknowledge this now could be a multi-trillion dollar mistake for the fossil fuel industry and institutions that finance them.
We urge you to adopt these changes to your investment policies for the sake of the environment and economic responsibility.
Sincerely,
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Bill McKibben Author and Co-Founder, 350.org
Julien Vincent Lead Campaigner, Market Forces -
Clare Bowditch Musician
Peter Carey Author. Photo: Ashley Gilbertson -
Peter Singer AC Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University and Laureate Professor, University of Melbourne. Photo: Denise Applewhite/Princeton University
Associate Professor Cheryl Kernot Director, Graduate Certificate in Social Impact, The Centre for Social Impact UNSW -
Professor Carmen Lawrence Winthrop Professor, University of Western Australia
Ian Thomas Dunlop Independent Commentator, former Chair of the Australian Coal Association -
Felix Riebl Singer/songwriter (of The Cat Empire)
Kate Grenville Australian author -
Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg Global Change Institute, University of Queensland
Bob Brown Former Leader of the Australian Greens -
Lucy Manne and Kirsty Albion Co-Directors, Australian Youth Climate Coalition
David Ritter CEO, Greenpeace Australia Pacific -
John Coetzee Author
Jack Mundey Unionist and environmentalist -
Professor Denise Bradley AC Emeritus Professor, University of South Australia
Professor Ian Lowe President, Australian Conservation Foundation -
Dr Jane Williamson Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University
Anthony J. McMichael AO, FTSE Professor Emeritus (Population Health), ANU -
Professor Kingsley Faulkner Chair, Doctors for the Environment Australia
Tim Levinson (Urthboy) Australian hip-hop artist -
Hon. Dr Barry Jones AO Former Minister for Science
James Bradley Author -
Professor Lesley Hughes Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
Peter Temple Australian author -
Professor Nihal Agar Chairman, Hindu Council of Australia
Tara June Winch Australian author -
Emeritus Professor Robert Manne Vice-Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
Patricia Piccinini Artist -
Mark Seymour Australian singer/songwriter
Paul Dempsey Singer/songwriter, Something for Kate -
Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black Rabbi, Leo Baeck Centre for Progressive Judaism
Melissa Lucashenko Australian novelist -
Associate Professor Grant Blashki Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne
Dr Linda Selvey Associate Professor in Public Health, Curtin University -
Dr Liz Hanna Convenor, Climate Change Adaptation Research Network - Human Health
Victoria Roberts Two time Olympic Rower and PhD candidate in Management and Behavioural Ethics -
Bishop George Browning Past Chair, Anglican Communion Environment Network
Garry Egger AM MPH PhD Professor of Lifestyle Medicine, Southern Cross University -
Rev. Dr Clive W Ayre Chair, QLD Churches Environmental Network
Rev. Dr Brian Brown Moderator, Uniting Church Synod of NSW & ACT -
Peter Christoff Assoc Prof, Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne
Dr Will J Grant Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU -
Associate Professor Mark Diesendorf Institute of Environmental Studies, UNSW
Sharyn Munro Author, 'Rich Land, Wasteland' -
Professor Andrew Glikson Earth and Paleo-climate scientist, ANU
Professor Glenn Albrecht Professor of Sustainability, Murdoch University -
Fiona Armstrong Convenor, Climate and Health Alliance
Dr Chris McGrath Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland -
The Right Reverend Tom Wilmot Assistant Bishop of Perth, Anglican Church Diocese of Perth
Professor John Wiseman Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne -
Dr Jeremy Moss Director of Social Justice Initiative, University of Melbourne
Professor Tim Jackson Professor of Sustainable Development, University of Surrey -
Robyn Eckersley Professor of Political Science, University of Melbourne
Dr Brad Farrant UWA Adjunct Research Fellow in Early Childhood Development -
Dr Ben Ewald Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, University of Newcastle
Prof Colin D Butler ARC Future Fellow, University of Canberra and Visiting Fellow, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU -
Professor Neil Ormerod Professor of Theology, Australian Catholic University
Dr Mark G Edwards Assistant Professor, University of Western Australia -
Dr Matthew Rimmer Assoc Prof, ANU College of Law
Dr Peter Tait FRACGP MClimChng National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU -
Neil Perry Research Lecturer, University of Western Sydney
Ben R Newell Associate Professor of Psychology, UNSW -
Associate Professor James Ross Public Health Physician and Occupational Physician
Professor Lynne Madden Associate Dean, School of Medicine Sydney, The University of Notre Dame Australia -
Ida Halliday 2780, Australia
Nicole Alexander 3160, Australia -
William Quinlivan 12842
Liza Tykhonova
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Sarah Nielsen-Harvey 6055, Australia
Naomi Kumar 3216, Australia
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Donald Wallace 91302
Nancy Mathisen 12443
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Eiler Brennan Pitt
Jan Bowman 4101, Australia
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Wayne Heywood 3057, Australia
Daniele Hromek 2037, Australia
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fiona dean 6725, Australia
Melanie Colling 2106, Australia
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Ian Pitt 2220, Australia
Maryanne Large 2073, Australia
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Jan O'Leary 2777, Australia
Pat Allan 3070, Australia
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Josie Ryder Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Linda Cockburn 7116, Australia
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Mark Simpson 4670, Australia
Michael Pitcher 3121, Australia
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Judith Odgaard 6401, Australia
Rosemary Mattingley 7262, Australia
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Anthony Fisk 3146, Australia
Rose Becke 3121, Australia
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Margot Holden 3163, Australia
todd Harrison 54123
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Lyndsay Holme Woodford, New South Wales
Paul May 4037, Australia
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Amanda Walsh 6725, Australia
Jeremy Carver 2486, Australia
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Treasury Bill Will Wright Sydney, Australia
Gavin Webber 3337, Australia
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Daniel Mirabella 6000, Australia
Sylvia Ramsay 4214, Australia
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Glynn Aaron 3031, Australia
Lesley Hughes 4500, Australia
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Paul Turbett 6060, Australia
John Bloomfield 2196, Australia -
Michael ELLWOOD 2076, Australia
Susie Stock 2
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Catherine McIver 3943, Australia
Dorothy Robb 4519, Australia
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Holly Edward 3055, Australia
Cecilia Vagg 2780, Australia
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Paul Cuttler 3068, Australia
Lachlan Horn 3058, Australia
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Khursh Mian-Acevedo New York, New York
Sarah Sannen 2147, Australia
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Mark Walburn 2034, Australia
Sarah Herbert 2602, Australia
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Petra Liverani Sydney, Australia
Robin Furniss 3219, Australia
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Lenore Kulakauskas 2026, AustraliaMark Doyle Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Jules Kajtar 2033, Australia
josephine starrs 2026, Australia
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Kev Willis 2041, Australia
Elizabeth Buchan 2602, Australia
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Gregory Esq Sydney, Australia
Alan Waugh 7008, Australia
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Michael Vandelaar Adelaide, South Australia
Sarah Buchanan 2483, Australia
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Caroline Hale 2283, Australia
Eugene O'Doherty 6728, Australia
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FRANK SYKES 6929, Australia
Kris Shrimpton 3068, Australia
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Margaret Foy 2780, Australia
Jeremy Stevens 2617, Australia
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Angela Lindstad 2121, Australia
anders villani 3087, Australia -
Robyn Erwin
Megan Wynne-Jones 2780, Australia
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Chel Bardell 7304, Australia
Eithne Stack 2203, Australia
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Kim Wainwright 6030, Australia
Marlies Bower-Kramer 4504, Australia
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Graham Palmer 7212, AustraliaHao Ran Lai
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Marion DE COURCAY 2089, Australia
Zac Black-Dendle 4017, Australia
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Rachel Buckeridge 2030, Australia
Emma Watkins 0810, Australia -
David Furphy 3206, Australia
Nathan Handley 2038, Australia
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Josh B 2040, Australia
Caroline Pidcock 2000, Australia
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Martin Oliver 2480, Australia
Richard Stanford 2283, Australia
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Max Hacker 2026, Australia
Mark Zanker 0850, Australia -
Jeff Young 2099, Australia
Susie Russell 2429, Australia -
Anna Victoria Sydney, Australia
David Hood 3182, Australia
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Paul Osborn 2423, AustraliaRichard Martin Newcastle, New South Wales
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Gregory Crocetti 3070, Australia
Ewan Ogilvy 4215, Australia
