NAB has unveiled a new oil and gas policy.Credit:
Alongside the results,NAB released a new policy on oil and gas that puts a $US2.6 billion ($3.2 billion) cap on financing the sector by 2026,which allows NAB to increase this funding by around $300 million in the short-term before progressively reducing exposure.
The policy aims to bring NAB’s operations in-line with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) most recent report,that declaredno new fossil fuel projects can be financed if the world is to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
While NAB’s policy enforces a ban on directly financing greenfield gas extraction projects overseas and in Australia,it allows an exception to be made if an Australian state or federal government declares a new project crucial to national energy security.
This part of NAB’s policy has been roundly criticised by environmental groups,including 350.org and Market Forces,who claimed it created “massive loopholes” for the expansion of oil and gas and was an “exercise in greenwashing”.
Mr McEwan said more than 71 per cent of NAB’s energy financing was renewable,lending to thermal coal had been reduced faster than planned and the policy to ban new oil and gas projects only had a few “exceptions”.
“We’re not going into any new oil and gas developments ... I want to be very clear on that… The only proviso is if a state or federal[government] says it’s absolutely essential for supply chain[or] energy in Australia,” Mr McEwan said. “Cast your mind to what’s going on in Europe,and you’ll see why that’s not a loophole.”