Superannuation funds have significant influence over fossil fuel companies because of their supersized investments. The shares they hold in Australia’s biggest polluters give super funds the power to hold them to account, vote company directors out and vote climate action in.
But super funds aren't stepping up to stop gas giants like Woodside who don't have a credible net-zero plan. Let's make the difference!
Our funds need to hear from us, the people whose retirement savings they hold. It’s our collective savings – worth $3 trillion on the sharemarket – that make them influential, after all.
We call on our super funds to:
- Take action at the Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of Australia’s biggest polluters to hold board members to account, including voting against executive bonuses and board directors that are blocking or delaying the transition to renewable energy by focusing company resources on opening new coal, oil and gas.
- Publicly pre-declare their votes before the AGMs of the biggest polluting companies in their portfolio.
We must drive down emissions together. Because a liveable, safe planet benefits all of us. Not just the few.
Pressure from members is already spurring super funds to clean up their investments. Companies like AGL and BHP have started to announce real plans to cut their emissions in response to pressure from retirement funds acting on the concerns of their members.
Next up are giants Woodside and Santos – companies hell-bent on expanding new oil and gas in a climate crisis, with climate plans that are insincere and inadequate.
Super funds can:
Sign this open letter telling Australia’s biggest super funds that you care for our planet. We will personally deliver it to the 15 funds that hold the greatest influence over Woodside and Santos ahead of their Annual General Meetings in April with advice on how to vote that’s aligned with people’s wishes and the planet’s protection.
The actions we take now to address the climate crisis this decade will determine our future for generations to come.
Australian superannuation funds collectively invest more than $3 trillion in retirement savings on our behalf. The choices they make are shaping the world we, and future generations, will retire into.
Too many super funds are investing our retirement savings in companies that are wrecking our climate, while squandering their opportunity and responsibility as major investors and shareholders to drive down the emissions of fossil fuel companies.
As members of the largest super funds in Australia we call on our funds to urgently use their shareholder rights to drive deep and genuine emission reductions from Australia’s biggest polluters and take action to drive the shift to renewable energy and align the economy to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
We call on our super funds to:
We call on our superannuation funds to invest in a future where our communities, precious wildlife and the places we love can thrive.
Header: Gas ship being filled up, Pilbara Western Australia. Photo: Franklin64 / Shutterstock.com