ANZ - The diritest bank

Who is the dirty power behind dirty power in Australia? It's the retail bank that claims it 'lives in your world', ANZ. ANZ is officially the dirtiest bank in Australia.

Why ANZ? Despite announcing its plan to be carbon neutral by the end of 2009, ANZ is the largest financer of dirty coal power in Australia. Over the past five years, ANZ has poured nearly $1.6 billion dollars into coal mines, coal ports and coal power stations. At a time when we need to be cutting pollution and investing in renewable energy, ANZ is using our money to expand Australia's coal industry.

ANZ has taken out the award of Australia's dirtiest bank, but this doesn't let the other big banks off the hook. ANZ, Commonwealth, National and Westpac together have provided more than $5 billion over the past five years to finance Australia's coal industry.

But there is no doubt that ANZ is dirtiest of all.

Ironically, ANZ markets itself as an environmental champion. ANZ's website claims it is 'committed to fund only new projects that can be developed and operated according to sound social and environmental standards.' It details targets set to reduce the impact of its operations and boasts having been awarded the top spot on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index – a title it lost this year, slipping right out of the ranking. Yet despite all the green rhetoric, ANZ is committed to financing the most polluting form of power – coal. In 2007, it was a lead arranger of finance for the most recent coal power station in Australia, Bluewater II – a station that will keep polluting Australia for decades to come.

In fact, ANZ has used our money to finance dirty power in nearly every state in Australia.

Without the finance provided by ANZ and the other big banks, it is unlikely that new coal power stations would be built. And where does this finance come from? Us. While most Australians want strong action on global warming, the big banks are using our savings to invest in the industry that is the biggest contributor to global warming – coal.

We need ANZ to stand with the Australian community and make a clear decision to not finance new coal power stations. And we need them to do it now. With 12 new coal power stations on the books around Australia, and with governments unwilling to stand up to the big polluters, ANZ and the other big banks have a vital role to play in driving the clean energy revolution we so urgently need.

So we are calling on ANZ to put its money where its mouth is and become a truly responsible corporate citizen. ANZ must make a commitment to not finance new coal power stations, and instead shift its investments to clean, renewable energy. It's our money. It's our future.

How you can help

Let ANZ know what you think of their dirty behaviour. Email ANZ CEO Mike Smith using our online email tool. It's easy to do and will only take two minutes.