The world’s most sustainable company?

Dear friend,

Despite its multi-million dollar lending to the fossil fuel industry, Westpac was recently named the world’s most sustainable company. If you’re a Westpac customer, we need your help to tell Westpac that there’s nothing sustainable about funding fossil fuels.

As we speak, the fossil fuel industry is working harder than ever to unveil dozens of damaging new projects across our beautiful country. Indeed, just last week, we saw the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority give the industry the green light to dump 3 million cubic tonnes of dredge spoil from expanded coal operations right in the middle of the Reef.

With coal prices plummeting, the climate warming and people like you taking action to expose these damaging practices, the industry knows that time isn’t on their side.

That’s why, in 2014, the fossil fuel industry will be mounting a massive fight to get a raft of new expansion projects off the ground – before it’s too late. And they’ll be turning to supporters like Westpac to help them out.

Fossil fuel companies know they can rely on “the world’s most sustainable company” to lend them a hand. Since 2008 Westpac has loaned over $1.1 billion, to new coal and gas export projects along Australia’s eastern seaboard, many within the Great Barrier Reef. Westpac is also one of a handful of lenders to Whitehaven’s Maules Creek coal mine in Leard State Forest, a mine that will destroy over 544 hectares of critically endangered forest, dump thousands of tonnes of coal dust onto surrounding communities and release emissions equivalent to New Zealand’s entire energy sector.

But if you’re a Westpac customer, you can help to change this. This year, we’ll be working harder than ever to show the big banks that fossil fuels are not only bad for the climate, environment and communities – they’re bad for business. We’ll support thousands of customers to move their money out of banks like Westpac and into banks that don’t lend to coal and gas projects.* But we need your help.

After a series of successful ANZ and Commonwealth divestment activities last year, it’s Westpac’s turn. On March the 8^th, together with our friends at Market Forces, we’ll support dozens of Westpac customers in Melbourne and Sydney to publicly close their accounts in protest over the bank’s support of the fossil fuel industry.

Click here to join a Westpac divestment action today!

Once you register, we’ll support you every step of the way with helpful materials and a list of banks that don’t fund fossil fuels. You’ll be surprised by how easy the process of going fossil free actually is!

I hope you will join us on the 8^th of March as we take a stand for the climate and use our money for good.

Yours for the climate,

Charlie on behalf of 350.org Australia

*The following banks claim to be fossil free banks: Bendigo, Bank MECU, Beyond Bank, Members Equity Bank, Defence Bank and People’s Choice Credit Union