> The big fours banks are tied to deforestation through the customers they lend to.

> SIX and environmental NGO Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) are building shareholder pressure to push the banks to ensure their finance is deforestation-free.

> You can learn more and join the campaign through the SIX app.

In a single year from July 2023, Australia’s big four banks enabled enough deforestation to cover the size of 22,000 soccer fields!*

We’re a country with the unhappy title of a global deforestation hotspot. Banks drive this destruction of our forests & wildlife through the customers they lend to, and whether these customers are involved in deforestation.

Yet none of the banks have a commitment to no deforestation - or a credible strategy to ensure their finance is deforestation-free.

SIX and our partners at Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) are building shareholder power to change that at Australia and New Zealand Holding Group Limited (ASX:ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA), National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB), and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC).

> Do you already hold shares in these companies in the SIX app? No need to do anything - you’ve already joined the campaign as a supporting shareholder, so thank you!

> Do you hold big four bank shares on another trading platform? Simply take 5 minutes to fill in SIX’s agency agreement to join the campaign. If you’ve previously filled in this form with SIX, there is no need to fill it in again unless your shares have changed (i.e. you have bought or sold in the banks).

> Are you not yet a shareholder but want to become one? The SIX app makes it easy to join the campaign!

Last year, resolutions we lodged at ANZ with ACF received a world-record vote: 22.7% in favour of action on deforestation, representing $13.5 billion of shares voted in support.

This exceeded the already high vote at NAB, where our resolution co-filed with ACF, Australian Ethical and Melior Investment Management received a solid 13.9% vote of support from investors calling on the bank to disclose its links to deforestation.

Our resolutions have already started to have an impact on how the big banks do business, with NAB making a shift to start proactively monitoring for potential illegal clearing on sites they finance; and ANZ saying they are going to start improving monitoring of deforestation this year.

But there’s more work to be done, including on the other big two: CommBank and Westpac.

Right now, ACF is inviting their community to email the four big banks and urge them to take deforestation seriously. You don't need to be a customer of that specific bank to contact them - everyone is affected by the projects the banks choose to finance! But if you are a customer, it's powerful to mention that in your message.

Find more details and take action on ACF's website or follow the direct links here to email ANZ, CBA, NAB or WBC.

*Australian Conservation Foundation, June 2025, Financed deforestation: bank roles and responsibilities - report website.