NAB shareholders will vote on Australia’s first bank shareholder resolutions on deforestation at the bank’s annual meeting on Friday.
The resolutions call on the bank, which is Australia’s biggest agribusiness lender, to disclose how much it lends to customers involved in deforestation and set a strategy to stop financing it.
Italy’s largest asset manager Anima, which manages more than €200bn, has indicated its support for the resolutions. The Californian public employee pension fund Calpers, which manage US$500bn in investments, has also indicated it will vote in favour.
The shareholder resolution is facilitated by the Australian Conservation Foundation and co-filed by SIX Invest, Australian Ethical, Melior Investment Management and more than 100 shareholders.
Available for interview from 9am on Friday 12 December outside the AGM (which begins at 9.30):
- Jolene George, ACF’s head of corporate advocacy
- Max Hamra, ACF’s policy analyst - corporate responsibility
- Phoebe Rountree, campaign manager at SIX Invest
“NAB has the highest exposure to deforestation among Australian banks,” said ACF’s head of corporate advocacy Jolene George, who is scheduled to speak to the motion at the AGM on Friday.
“Banks that finance deforestation not only destroy habitat and drive species towards extinction, they also expose themselves, their shareholders and the broader economy to escalating environmental and financial risks.
“Banks need to adopt clear policies to eliminate deforestation from their lending portfolios and invest in internal capability to identify and monitor nature-related risk.”
Legal opinion by Sebastian Hartford-Davis and Zoe Bush in 2023 concluded failure on the part of company directors to identify, manage and disclose material nature-related risks may lead to them being found in breach of their duties of care and diligence.
Contact details:
Josh Meadows, 0439 342 992, [email protected]
