Climate activists organised a protest at National Australia Branch鈥檚 (NAB) Corporate Tower Branch at 8am on March 31 as part of Move Beyond Coal's聽10 days of action against the bank.
Campaigner Renee Lees told 麻豆传媒: 鈥淲e flooded our local NAB branch today because NAB鈥檚 ongoing relationship with Whitehaven Coal is deeply hypocritical and incompatible with their own climate commitments and a safe climate future.
鈥淲e all want our communities and the natural world to survive and thrive for generations to come. So, every fraction of a degree of warming matters.
鈥淭he coal we keep in the ground today will protect lives, livelihoods and nature for generations to come.
鈥淲e鈥檙e calling on Ross McEwan, NAB鈥檚 CEO, to explicitly rule out funding for companies like Whitehaven Coal that have no transition plan, no climate policy and that if financed 鈥 their plans would lead to climate catastrophe.鈥
The group flooded the NAB branch with stories, voices, people, feedback and songs for half an hour giving NAB鈥檚 CEO Ross McEwan a clear choice: rule out further funding for Whitehaven Coal or continue to face sustained, community pressure disrupting branch operations.
Signs read 鈥淣AB Stop funding coal鈥 and 鈥淣AB stop the greenwashing鈥.
Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2016, NAB has funded the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $9.5 billion while claiming it supports the climate agreement.
NAB has been involved in lending deals worth billions of dollars to Whitehaven and, in 2020, NAB loaned it $110 million.
Whitehaven Coal is planning to invest around $4 billion on three new coal mines and expansions in the coming years 鈥 Vickery extension, Narrabri Stage 3 and Winchester South 鈥 doubling production by 2030.
Financing any new coal is out of step with the climate science and NAB鈥檚 own policies. The Move Beyond Coal movement aims to force NAB聽to commit to ending its financing for fossil fuel corporations, starting with Whitehaven Coal.
[For more information email info@movebeyondcoal.com.闭听