The Commonwealth Bank will stop financing fossil fuel companies that aren’t compliant with the Paris climate goals by the end of this year.The Commonwealth Bank will stop financing fossil fuel companies that aren’t compliant with the Paris climate goals by the end of this year., Australia’s largest lender, has broken ranks with rivals and will stop financing fossil fuel companies that aren’t compliant with the Paris climate goals by the end of this year.
The bank set “core criteria” including having a medium-term emissions reduction plan to 2035 and a net-zero ambition covering at least 95% of the carbon pollution from extraction and processing, according to itsMarket Forces, a climate lobby, hailed CBA’s shift from “the worst offender on climate and lending to fossil fuel companies to the first of Australia’s major banks to announce its break up with climate-wrecking clients”.
Average insurance premiums were up 28% in the year to 31 March, with 12% of households “experiencing extreme home insurance affordability stress”, the bank said. The bank estimated home loans at “high physical risk” from climate change totalled $30.3bn, or 2.2% of its overall exposure. Of those, about $11bn of risk involved cyclones, $16.9bn floods, $1.8bn bushfires and $1.6bn for sea level rise.Decarbonising also had “the potential to be significantly disruptive” in regions reliant on fossil fuels. Borrowers may struggle to repay loans, “resulting in adverse credit risk outcomes for our customers and the bank”.