Papua LNG: One fifth of Equator Principles signatories refused finance
The success
By June 2026, 27 signatories of the Equator Principles – over a fifth of the initiative’s 127 members – had ruled out direct financing to the TotalEnergies-led Papua LNG project. This includes 14 banks that ruled out financing following a complaint raised to the Equator Principles in December 2025 by a coalition of six groups: Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR), Japan Center for Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES), Jubilee Australia Research Centre, Market Forces & Reclaim Finance. The complaint concerns the risks to biodiversity, climate and human rights from extraction and production from the project.
BankTrack's role
BankTrack has supported the campaign to stop bank finance for the Papua LNG project, including through publishing a Dodgy Deal profile on the project, helping produce a frontline story for the 2024 Banking on Climate Chaos report, and BankTrack established the Equator Complaints channel, which was used by partners to file a complaint regarding the project. BankTrack supported the complainants by communicating the complaint to the Equator Principles Ltd staff and secretariat, and supporting partner efforts to communicate the complaint to all Equator banks.
The 27 Equator Principles signatories that have ruled out financing the project are: ABN Amro, ANZ, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Crédito del Peru, BNDE, BNP Paribas, Bpifrance Assurance Export, CIFI (Corporacion Interamericana Para El Financiamiento de Infraestructura), Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Crédit Agricole, Export Finance Australia, Export Finance Norway, ING Bank, Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Intesa Sanpaolo, KfW IPEX Bank, La Banque Postale, National Australia Bank (NAB), Natixis/BPCE, NWB Bank, Rabobank, Société Générale, Standard Bank, Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), UK Export Finance, UniCredit, Westpac.
Four non-signatory financial institutions have also ruled out the project. These are: Asian Development Bank (ADB), CIC (Crédit Mutuel group), Bank of the South Pacific, Kina Bank.
The reluctance of banks to support the project raises questions about its viability, with the current reported lead financial adviser, Japanese bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) still seeking backers.
The full list of financial institutions that have ruled out financing the project is available on the Defund TotalEnergies website here.
