据彭博社2020年5月4日报道，在西太平洋银行表示将在2030年退出燃煤电厂行业后，在澳大利亚为该项目的融资变得有点困难。此举也使澳大利亚和新西兰银行集团有限公司成为澳大利亚四大能源集团中最后一个尚未承诺放弃这个最污染的燃料的公司。
Financing a thermal coal project in Australia just got a little bit harder after Westpac Banking Corp. said it would exit the sector by 2030, leaving Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. as the last of the country’s big four yet to commit to dropping the most polluting fuel. 澳大利亚作为世界第二大火电用煤出口国，截至2019年6月底，过去一年创造了260亿澳元（166亿美元）的出口收入。但随着全球金融机构向股东和气候组织施压，要求他们避免煤炭投资，将新资源投入生产变得越来越困难。Australia is the world’s second-biggest thermal coal exporter, generating A$26 billion ($16.6 billion) in export revenue in the year to end-June 2019, but it has become increasingly difficult to bring new resources on stream as financial institutions across the globe bow to pressure from shareholders and climate groups to avoid coal investments.
西太平洋银行已经将其对煤碳投资总量减少至7亿澳元，并在5月4日发布的气候行动计划中表示，该行将不与任何新的火电厂客户建立关系。该银行将继续为冶金用煤提供资金，同时支持减少钢铁行业对煤炭依赖的举措。Westpac has already reduced its total coal exposure to A$700 million and said in its climate action plan on Monday that it would not establish relationships with any new thermal customers. The bank would continue to finance metallurgical coal, while backing initiatives that reduce the steel industry’s dependence on the fuel.
西太平洋银行在报告中说：“我们将继续发展可持续金融方法，识别金融机构在促进向低碳经济转型过程中可以发挥的作用。”该报告还设定了未来三年向气候变化解决方案提供35亿澳元的新贷款目标。“We continue to evolve our sustainable finance approach, recognizing the role financial institutions can play in facilitating the transition to a low carbon economy,” Westpac said in the report. It has also set a target of A$3.5 billion in new lending to climate change solutions over the next three years.
澳大利亚联邦银行和澳大利亚国民银行计划分别在2030年和2035年之前淘汰火电用煤，尽管澳新银行表示，预计其参与火电煤的程度将下降，但尚未设定正式的退出日期。作为世界上最大的燃煤发电开发商贷款人之一，日本的银行也开始缩减其敞口，尽管步伐缓慢，但已致使燃煤行业转向其他地方寻求资金。Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank Ltd. plan to be out of thermal coal by 2030 and 2035 respectively, while ANZ has said that it expects its involvement to decline, but has not set an official exit date. Japanese banks, among the world’s biggest lenders to coal power developers, are also starting to pare back their exposure, albeit at a slower pace, leaving the industry to turn elsewhere in search of funding.
来源：iGDP