Major Australian Retirement Fund Claims "Net Zero" While Becoming Whitehaven Coal's 2nd- Biggest Shareholder
A major Australian superannuation fund is under fire for substantially increasing its investment in the coal company Whitehaven, and being on the brink of becoming its biggest backer, while still claiming to be committed to reaching net zero emissions. Shareholder advocacy groups said AustralianSuper was moving against the trend of its peers with recent share purchases in the company, which they said were “flying in the face of environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments”.
Clean energy finance organisation Market Forces said the super fund was “on the precipice” of becoming Whitehaven Coal’s largest investor, with shares worth about $395m. Recent disclosures by Whitehaven, first reported by the Australian Financial Review, reveal AustralianSuper now owns 70.9m shares in the company, or 8.47% of shares on issue, after the recent purchases.
AustralianSuper is the second-largest shareholder in the coal company and, according to Market Forces, holds nearly triple the combined shares of all of the other top 30 super funds in their default investment options, based on the latest disclosures effective as at December 2024.
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“How on earth can AustralianSuper call itself a responsible investor after buying millions of shares in Whitehaven Coal?” Market Forces’ senior analyst, Brett Morgan, said. “AustralianSuper is backing Whitehaven’s expansion plans, which would result in nearly 5bn tonnes of carbon pollution from burning coal, equivalent to running all of Australia’s coal-fired power stations until 2062.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/24/australiansuper-criticised-for-buying-up-shares-in-whitehaven-coal-while-claiming-to-be-committed-to-net-zero-ntwnfb