Comments attributable to Jacqueline Fox, NAB Chief Climate Officer. 

“NAB is connected to all parts of the economy through our lending and other banking activities and has a key role in supporting our customers’ transition to a low emissions future, as well as their ability to adapt and pursue new climate opportunities.

As a result of NAB’s ESG-related policies and risk settings, in aggregate, NAB has reduced its exposure to fossil fuels over time.

NAB will not finance new-to-bank thermal coal mining customers or new thermal coal mining projects and as of September 2023, NAB no longer has any corporate lending to thermal coal mining customers or project finance in respect of thermal coal mining assets. NAB intends to maintain this position into the future. NAB also has had no direct lending to coal-fired power generation assets since March 2022.

NAB has capped oil and gas exposure at USD $2.28 bn and put in place restrictions on oil and gas financing.

NAB has now set 12 interim decarbonisation targets – including for the power generation, thermal coal and oil and gas sectors – seeking to align with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. These targets are set using robust, science-based guidelines and cover both project and corporate lending to these sectors.

Additionally, from 1 October 2025 NAB will require customer transition plans from Corporate and Institutional Banking customers in the power generation (where at time of lending, 25% or more of the electricity generated by the customer is from thermal coal), oil and gas, and metallurgical coal sectors, for new or renewed corporate lending or project-level lending, or capital markets activity.

We’re working together with our customers to decarbonise and we’ll be transparent in our progress via updates in our annual Climate Report. Further details of our progress can be found in our 2023 Climate Report, and our Supplementary Climate Disclosures released in June 2024.

NAB is also increasing financing to renewable-powered generation as the shift to renewable sources of energy will be critical to reducing emissions and Australia achieving net zero by 2050. As at 31 March 2024, financing for renewables accounted for 77% of NAB’s energy generation financing, an increase from 73% as at 30 September 2023.”