<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-big-four-banks-caught-napping-on-methane-emissions-and-still-supporting-coal/>
"Australia’s big four banks are being urged to take greater action against
climate change after a study found none were specifically identifying emissions
of a major greenhouse gas.
The banks’ failure to single out methane emissions could undermine their
environmental efforts, the study warned, in addition to their failure to phase
out support for methane-intensive coal-mining projects.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued the warning
and six recommendations on Thursday after analysing climate reports from the
Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB.
The report comes after Australian research group The Superpower Institute
launched an open platform to report methane emissions and after the big big
banks were found to have cut lending to fossil fuel companies by more than 20
per cent in two years.
The institute’s report analysed annual climate reports and climate transition
plans from the four banks and found only ANZ covered methane emissions in its
environmental reporting, and none recorded methane emissions separately.
The lack of methane reporting went against Partnership for Carbon Accounting
Financials guidelines, report author and lead coal analyst Anne Knight said,
and could diminish the banks’ environmental targets.
“Australia’s major banks have taken significant strides in addressing their
climate-related financial risks and setting decarbonisation targets,” she said.
“However, the credibility and effectiveness of these efforts are undermined by
various critical shortcomings, most notably the inconsistent, often inadequate
treatment of methane emissions.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
