Westpac's going green by shutting its doors to oil and gas producers.
👉 Background: Westpac is Australia's third largest lender, established waaaay back in 1817. This bank has been in the news lately about its new digital home loan product that promises approvals in 10 minutes... and for maybe shutting 100 branches soon.
👉 What happened: In May Westpac announced a plan to stop lending to companies where more than 5% of revenue comes from thermal coal mining. And now Westpac will cut down lending to companies involved in the oil and gas industries by almost a quarter by 2030.
👉 What else: The coal policy is part of Westpac's membership in the United Nations Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
💡The United Nations Net-Zero Banking Alliance is a group designed to encourage banks to go greener, sooner... because almost all carbon emitters rely on lending from banks.
💡 To become a signatory, banks need to make certain commitments, like an immediate emissions reduction target for 2030 or sooner.
💡The Alliance ain't small either. It includes 115 banks in 41 countries (US$70 trillion worth of assets). Westpac is the third of the big four to join the net-zero by 2030 pledge, after CBA and NAB. ANZ, u up?
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