The evidence is clear that our economy depends on nature. What’s even clearer is that the nature crisis is putting the planet at risk – it threatens our health, the climate and the places we love. Australia has one of the worst extinction rates on Earth, and it’s getting worse.
The ongoing acceleration of Australia’s nature destruction will be felt everywhere — from the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink to our backyards and our favourite holiday spots.
Australian banks and superannuation funds manage trillions of dollars of lending and investment, and the decisions they make can help to restore nature, or harm it. But how is your bank or super fund addressing the nature crisis?
Out of the 20 banks and super funds that the Australian Conservation Foundation has surveyed, we found just three — Future Super, Australian Super and NAB — that have assessed nature-related risks and opportunities. Only 40% plan to do so in the future.
None of the big four banks has a ‘zero deforestation’ policy, which means they are likely contributing to Australia being the only developed economy with a deforestation front, just like the Amazon and the Congo. It also means ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac’s net zero commitments lack credibility as they continue to fund bulldozing forests – critical carbon stores needed to tackle the climate crisis.
Without adequate assessments and planning to address the risks of deforestation, Australian banks and super funds are jeopardising billions of dollars of investments.
And they are making the nature crisis worse by funding deforestation.
Our dependence on nature in our major industries is so high, experts have warned we will be one of the worst affected countries in the world from climate change and nature loss. If unaddressed, by 2050 our economy could be losing $40 billion per year in GDP.
What should banks be doing?
Here are the recommendations for Australian banks and super funds to adopt:
- Conduct a high-level assessment to understand how their loans and investments might be impacting, or impacted by, the nature crisis
- Set a target of no deforestation across their loans and investments
- Integrate nature into their climate targets and policies
- Set clear and public timelines to complete comprehensive impact and dependency reporting, and nature target-setting
- Engage with clients, customers, and other stakeholders on their approach to nature and set clear, science-based expectations
- And be advocating for stronger nature laws, including nature related financial regulations, and more funding to protect and restore nature.
Use the tool on this page to make these demands of the bank. Choose your bank or superannuation fund, add their name to the email we’ve prewritten (and make any other edits you like), and click send! It’s that simple.