Bank Australia to Stop Fossil Fuel Car Loans, mate!

Wouldn’t this be a good idea for UK banks to follow suit? As we will see, we’re not entirely sure that will happen…

In a recent announcement, Bank Australia has said it will make it less easy for Australians to buy new, fossil fuelled cars. This seems good news on the surface, but sadly this will not apply to used cars, that the bank will help finance into the future.

As with the UK, the vast majority of car sales are of used cars in Australia so this is a good PR move but doesn’t stifle the bulk of the bank’s car financing business.

Could UK Banks Follow Suit?

The UK retail banking industry isn’t a wonderful bunch as far as climate change prevention goes. One of the ‘Big 5’ banks, Barclays is quite the reverse.

A report by banking pressure group Market Forces showed that, “since 2015 (the year the Paris climate agreement was signed), Barclays has financed around US $167 billion [£141 billion] in fossil fuels, making the bank the biggest financier of fossil fuels in Europe and the seventh-largest in the world.”

Barclays is just one of the Big 5 that often like to tell the world that they’re doing their bit for the planet but don’t really do as they say.

A Guardian newspaper report in 2009 showed that many UK banks only survived the global financial crash the year before due to copious amounts of illegal drugs money in the system!

As such it can be reasonably assumed that most banks - Barclays included - will go where the best returns are, irrespective of whether making that money will destroy the planet. 

Triodos, Nationwide and Co-op

Sadly not among the Big 5 high street banks, there are UK retail banks that are genuinely mindful about the climate. Triodos is among the best, followed by Nationwide building society and Co-op Bank. These sadly prove the exception to the rule. As such, the idea that our banking system will follow Bank Australia is a pipe dream at best for now at least.