The vast majority of climate damage is being done by a relatively small number of companies around the world. This is who they are: the Climate Wreckers Index. Out of the tens of thousands of companies our superannuation funds could invest in, Market Forces has for the first time identified a global list of the 180 companies doing most of the climate wrecking. Our new analysis of the default or largest investment option of 32 of Australia’s largest super funds reveals the average option has over 6% of its members’ share investments in Climate Wreckers Index companies. If this average were consistent across the $3.5 trillion superannuation industry, over $100 billion of Australians’ retirement savings – an average of over $4800 per member account – would be invested in this small but devastatingly dangerous group of companies driving us towards catastrophic climate change! Our superannuation industry is making a $100 billion bet against the goals of the Paris Agreement, on behalf of millions of members. We need member pressure to take that dirty bet off the table.
TAKE ACTION!
Tell your super fund to ditch the climate wreckers! Super fund*
Australia’s superannuation is betting $100 billion of members’ money against climate action.
The worst of the worst companies… The Climate Wreckers Index is made up of the 180 publicly-listed companies from all over the world with the biggest plans to expand the scale of the fossil fuel industry. Specifically, the list includes:
• The top 60 oil and gas producers by expansion plans
• The top 60 coal miners by expansion plans and coal reserves
• The top 30 companies by new gas power plant development plans
• The top 30 companies by new coal power plant development plans
Together, these companies are planning new coal, oil and gas production and power generation projects that could add the equivalent of almost 200 years of Australia’s national annual emissions! The Climate Wreckers Index companies could add the equivalent of…of Australia’s national annual emissions!
Emissions detail & comparisons
These companies are pursuing their rampant expansion plans despite the fact that achieving the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C warming limit leaves no room for new coal, oil or gas development, which has been confirmed by the IPCC and IEA, among others. “Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness. Such investments will soon be stranded assets – a blot on the landscape, and a blight on investment portfolios.” – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres The Climate Wreckers Index is not an exhaustive list of companies involved in coal, oil and gas expansion, just the worst of the worst climate wreckers that our super funds can invest in. Check out the full list below and see our case studies for examples of some of the dirty companies that make up the Climate Wreckers Index.
…Supported by our retirement savings!
We’ve cross-checked the default (or largest) investment option of 32 of Australia’s largest super funds by assets under management, and found the average of these options has 6.26% of its members’ publicly-traded company shares (listed equities) investments in Climate Wreckers Index companies. UniSuper topped the list, with 8.36% of its “balanced” option’s share investments in the climate wreckers, largely the result of its outsized investment exposure to BHP. It turns out net zero by 2050 targets, or other emissions targets, do little if anything to prevent investment in climate wrecking companies. This means that, despite having emissions targets, funds are often failing to take the immediate action required to facilitate a net zero emissions outcome or the Paris climate goals. Of course, funds that have implemented fossil fuel exclusion policies or taken fossil fuel divestment action reaching into both the coal and oil and gas sectors were generally among those with the lowest overall exposures to the Climate Wreckers Index. At a whole of fund level, the super funds profiled account for over 60% of all superannuation assets under management, and over 90% of all assets under management by APRA-regulated super funds.
How much of your retirement savings is invested in climate wrecking companies? Find out and take action! If the 6.26% average were consistent across the entire superannuation industry, 4800 per member account would be invested in the Climate Wreckers Index companies.