New analysis by Market Forces finds that in the decade since the Paris Agreement was adopted to rein in climate change, Australia’s big four banks – ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac – have provided AU$43.4 billion to the world’s major coal, oil and gas companies.

The report reveals a Blocklist of 23 existing fossil fuel clients of the big four banks which must be excluded from further financing after the introduction of new policies requiring coal, oil and gas producers to have credible emissions reduction plans.

The analysis shows that by not having credible transition plans, Australia’s largest oil and gas companies Woodside Energy and Santos as well as the world’s biggest miner, BHP, face being cut off by Australia’s big four banks.

Further financing of any of these 23 companies on the Market Forces Fossil Fuel Company Blocklist, including two of Japan’s biggest energy companies JERA and INPEX as well as global energy firms BP, Siemens Energy and GE Vernova, is a contravention of the banks’ commitments to the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.

The research finds that ANZ and Westpac stand out as Australia’s fossil fuel banks, accounting for over 80 percent of all lending from the big four banks to major fossil fuel companies across 2024 and 2025.

The analysis shows that Commonwealth Bank’s requirement for fossil fuel companies to disclose credible climate transition plans aligned with the Paris Agreement has resulted in significant reductions in its fossil fuel financing since being introduced in 2024. The bank’s lending exposure to companies producing and exploring for oil and gas has dropped by 75 percent in the last three years.

Kyle Robertson, Head of Research, Market Forces said:

“For the last decade, Australia’s biggest banks have violated their climate commitments by pouring tens of billions into companies expanding coal, oil and gas, but now they have a chance to avoid causing further harm.”

“We can’t afford to wait any longer, Australia’s big banks must end all finance for companies without credible plans for the critical shift to a more secure economy and a liveable climate.”

Australians face astronomical economic and social costs from climate change, made worse by expansion of coal, oil and gas. Extreme weather events are forecast to cost Australians $35 billion a year by 2050 and agricultural and labour productivity losses could exceed $4.2 trillion by the end of the century.

The analysis finds ANZ is the biggest funder of fossil fuels among Australian banks, having loaned or arranged over AU$15.9 billion for the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies in the last decade.

ANZ has continued to top the charts in recent years, having provided and arranged $5.7 billion in loans and bond finance to the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies since 2022, while Westpac has rocketed to second place with $3.8 billion.

The new analysis finds a clear divergence between the big four, with Commonwealth Bank and NAB demonstrating intent to ditch fossil fuel companies misaligned with global climate goals, while ANZ and Westpac’s policies are little more than window dressing and greenwashing.

The research also shows that ANZ and Westpac have all financed major companies expanding fossil fuels in recent years, including Woodside, Santos, JERA, APA Group, GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, BHP, Glencore and BP, funding significant deals in recent months.

“Commonwealth Bank and NAB are slashing finance for fossil fuels but ANZ and Westpac are greenwashing by cutting deals with some of the biggest coal, oil and gas companies in the world.”

“Australia’s biggest banks have well and truly given their fossil fuel clients long enough to prepare, if they’re still not transitioning it’s time to turn the money tap off once and for all.”

Note to editors and reporters:

Analysis methodology

Financial institutions: ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac

Companies: Fossil fuel companies featured on Urgewald’s 2024 Global Oil and Gas Exit List (GOGEL), 2024 Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) and 2025 Metallurgical Coal Exit List (MCEL)

GOGEL is a public database of companies in the oil and gas industry, covering 1,769 companies active in the upstream, midstream and power sectors. According to Urgewald, companies on GOGEL are responsible for 95% of global oil and gas production.

GCEL is a public database of companies in the thermal coal value chain, which includes coal miners and power producers, as well as companies involved in coal project development and coal services like exploration, processing, trading, transport & logistics, equipment manufacturing, coal-related maintenance and engineering services, coal-to-liquids and coal-to-gas production. GCEL 2024 covered 2800 companies, comprising about 1500 parent companies and their subsidiaries. Urgewald claims that GCEL covers companies representing 90% of global thermal coal production and coal-fired power capacity.

MCEL is a public database covering 160 metallurgical coal mine developers which are pursuing 252 metallurgical coal expansion projects in 18 countries.

Timeframe: 1 January 2016-1 September 2025 (Statistics from 1 January 2016 – 31 December 2023 are used from previous reports with fossil fuel financing data adjusted to only include companies on Urgewald’s ‘Exit Lists’.)

Finance type: Project and corporate loans, bonds

Transaction type: Primary, refinancing, acquisition

Market Forces obtained primary data from finance industry databases and company filings, reports, and market disclosures. Figures were cross-referenced for consistency and verified against secondary material. This report presents a synthesis of this material.

Comparisons with previous year’s reports is not appropriate, and this analysis should be viewed as a stand-alone report.

All banks featured in this report were given an opportunity to comment on financing attributed to them, none disputed participation in the deals featured in this dataset.

This media release was originally published on the Market Forces website here.