Super Fund Members Have the Power To Stop Fossil Fuels

As super fund members and clients of banks, we have the power to insist that our funds are used to mitigate climate change, rather than to keep on causing it by choosing to place our money in super funds and banks that don’t support the fossil fuel industry. Read on to discover what future your money is funding…

Could you be investing in fossil fuels and funding coal mines? 82 of Australia's 100 largest super funds fail to disclose adequate evidence of climate risk management! And, Australia’s big four banks play a critical role in supporting the fossil fuel industry.

At this year’s Sustainable Living Festival, Environmental Justice Australia, Market Forces and Ethical Investment Services held a talk at which they discussed how to use your power as a super fund member to call on your fund to divest from fossil fuels.

This can be achieved by either choosing to move your superannuation fund to a company that does not invest in fossil fuels and has adequate evidence of climate risk management and to use a bank that does not support the fossil fuel industry or by staying with your current bank and/or superannuation provider and asking them to change.

What Is Shareholder Activism?

Shareholder activism can be used by shareholders to influence a corporation's behaviour by exercising their rights as partial owners. An extreme example is Mark McVeigh is taking REST to court for not acting with care, skill and diligence when investing on his behalf and failing to act in his best interests by not properly considering the risks that climate change poses to the fund's investments.

The outcome of this case will be extremely interesting as a precedent could be set if the court determines that climate change risks must be taken into account when asset owners manage other people's money.

Is My Bank/Super Provider Funding Fossil Fuels?

You can check what future your super is funding using Super Switch’s website. You can also use it to check if your bank is funding fossil fuels.

If the company's climate risk disclosure rating is inadequate you can either use Super Switch's email templates to ask it to disclose its holdings and divest from fossil fuels or find a more socially aware fund to switch to (if you do this let your old one know why you left!).

It also has a list of which companies are helping build the Adani coal mine here and provides the option to take action by telling them not to be involved.