The big banks are funding deforestation
WHY THIS CAMPAIGN
Campaign update December 2025:
On 18 December 2025, resolutions we lodged at big bank ANZ with our campaign partner Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) received a world-record vote: 22.7% in favour of action on deforestation, representing $13.5 billion of shares voted in support of our resolution.
This vote is well beyond the average global that nature-related shareholder resolutions receive (around 11%), and broke the previous global record of 18% support for a deforestation-related resolution at PepsiCo.
And it exceeded the already high vote at NAB Annual General Meeting (AGM), 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.
SIX and ACF will be turning up the pressure on the big banks to act for nature. So - after a rest - we’ll see you in the new year.
PROBLEM
NAB and ANZ: National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) are two of Australia’s biggest banks.1 What they finance has the power to shape Australia, including the fate of many endangered animals.2
Deforestation: Deforestation from land clearing poses a catastrophic risk to Australia’s wildlife. According to the federal government’s threatened species committee, “land clearance has been the most significant threatening process in Australia since European settlement.”3
Endangered wildlife: Analysis of deforestation in Queensland found that between 2018-2020, over 1 million hectares of forest and woodland were bulldozed, mainly for cattle farming. Almost 200,000 hectares was habitat for the endangered koala. Greater gliders, northern quolls, ornamental snakes, and Australian painted snipes also saw tens of thousands of hectares of their forest homes destroyed.2
Financed deforestation: Banks fund the companies driving this destruction. Research shows that NAB has the most exposure to deforestation through its loans, with ANZ being the next most exposed of the Australian banks.2 Neither has a "no deforestation" commitment.
OPPORTUNITY
Deforestation policies: There are Australian banks with deforestation policies, such as Westpac, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, and Bank Australia. There is nothing stopping banks such as NAB and ANZ adopting ‘no deforestation’ policies.4
Commitment to net zero: Deforestation contributes to climate change. As members of the United Nations Net Zero Banking Alliance, these banks need to consider the impact of deforestation on their commitments to stop funding climate change.5
Put them on notice: The banks have their Annual General Meeting at the end of the year. Together with our partners at Australian Conservation Foundation, we're using shareholder power to push the banks to stop funding deforestation.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Don’t own shares in NAB or ANZ?
You can create a SIX trading account and use the SIX platform to purchase shares in NAB and/or ANZ.
You can also use your existing share trading platform to buy these shares and sign SIX's agency agreement.
Already own shares in NAB or ANZ?
Sign SIX's agency agreement ensuring you will be on the list of shareholders supporting SIX's resolutions with these companies.
Join the campaign!
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References
[1] Statista, Largest banks in Australia in financial year 2023, by assets, 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/434596/leading-banks-in-australia-assets/
[2] Australian Conservation Foundation, Banking on nature destruction: An analysis of Australian bank financing of deforestation, June 2023, https://www.acf.org.au/banking-on-nature-destruction
[3] Threatened Species Scientific Committee, Land clearance, 2021, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/key-threatening-processes/land-clearance
[4] Australian Conservation Foundation, Risky business: How Australia’s banks and super funds are responding to the nature crisis, December 2022, https://www.acf.org.au/risky-business-report
[5] United Nations, Integrity Matters: Net Zero commitments by Businesses, Financial Institutions, Cities and Regions, 2022, https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/high-level_expert_group_n7b.pdf
