ANZ to facilitate investment into low carbon economy

ANZ has recently announced its decision to fund and facilitate investment of at least $10 billion by 2020 to help its customers especially those within “sensitive” industries such as energy and mining to make a smooth transition to a low carbon economy.

Christine Tonkin, ANZ’s Managing Director of Global Loans, said at the Investor Group on Climate Change summit in Melbourne yesterday that this was up from facilitating around $6.5 billion in investment over the previous five years.

In a statement, ANZ said this investment will be put towards measures that manage long term carbon risk such as increased energy efficiency in industry, low emissions transport, green buildings, restoration, renewable energy and battery storage, emerging technologies and climate change adaptation.

RELATED: Battery storage could become the ‘norm’ for Aussie homes

Tonkin was speaking at the industry conference following ANZ’s release earlier this week of an updated outline of sensitive sector policies and responsible business lending which included a package of policy measures for the energy and mining industry as well as other sensitive industries such as water, forestry and the production of military equipment.

Tonkin said the new energy policy included, “a carbon emission threshold to ensure we only support new coal fired power plants that use advanced technologies and higher quality coal to significantly reduce emissions to at least 0.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour.”

However, the bank said the threshold would only apply to new loans and excluded any pre-existing activities in this sector, including commitments already made or business opportunities already at an advanced stage of negotiation.

Are you looking to reduce your household’s carbon footprint? Check out our top 20 energy saving tips for your home that won’t cost you anything.