Around 20 people gathered outside the Newtown branch of the National Australia Bank (NAB) on December 1 to demand it end all funding of Whitehaven Coal.
The bank is expanding its climate-wrecking coal mining operations, especially in northern New South Wales.
The protest, during which activists handed out leaflets bank customers, was organised by Move Beyond Coal (MBC).
It said Whitehaven Coal plans to double its coal mining operations “with four dangerous new coal projects” and that that NAB is funding the climate wrecking expansion.
NAB has loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Whitehaven since 2016, including a loan of $110 million in 2020.
Whitehaven need another $4 billion to get its coal expansion plans off the ground, and it is likely that it will approach previous funders for help too.
“The world’s scientists warn that all coal expansion must stop immediately to avoid runaway climate change. We cannot afford another dollar for coal,” MBC said.
“That’s why people across the continent are dropping into their local NAB branches, talking with staff and customers, sending emails, making phone calls, and dreaming up new creative ways to tell NAB to rule out funding Whitehaven Coal!”
[For more information visit Move Beyond Coal.]