Billionaire activists and Lawyers

Let's not beat around the bush and call this out for what it actually is, another attempt to destroy the coal industry, destroy existing shareholder value, and limit long-term shareholder growth and throw thousands of hard working and dedicated employees in regional Australia into unemployment.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are going down a very dangerous road given the disruption across the globe that one could argue demand similar actions in disclosure as ASIC are demanding over the COP 21 Paris agreement, an agreement that is unraveling faster than Nana's knitting!

Many experts including the International Energy Agency (IEA) see a future for coal to at least 2040. (see IEA 2017 Energy Outlook)

The Global FSB Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is a foundation set up by USA billionaire Mr. Michael Bloomberg who has a long involvement as an anti fossil fuel advocate and he has donated hundreds of millions to the cause.

In October 2017, Michael Bloomberg said, “The war on coal was started and continues to be led by communities who are tired of having their air and water poisoned when there are cleaner and cheaper alternatives available.”

I don't recall any such poisoning of air or water from coal mines or resources companies in Australia.

Mr Bloomberg, a UN special envoy on climate change and former mayor of New York city, has funded a $164m campaign in the US since 2010 and he has also donated $50m (￡38m) to expand the program into Europe and then the rest of the world. The money will support grassroots campaigns, research on the health impacts of coal and legal action against coal plants that are breaking pollution rules.

“The FSB Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) will develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. The Task Force will consider the physical, liability and transition risks associated with climate change and what constitutes effective financial disclosures across industries. The work and recommendations of the Task Force will help companies understand what financial markets want from disclosure in order to measure and respond to climate change risks, and encourage firms to align their disclosures with investors’ needs”.

(see link, https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/about/#)

TCFD seem to have a broad focus on the entire coal industry supply chain creating a level of activity that I’ve not seen across other industries such as motor vehicle manufacturers, distribution networks, transport, retail and wholesale, and large shopping centres, all being impacted by significant global change driven by technology changes and consumers causing a far greater level of immediate risk to the bottom line of listed companies than the COP 21 Paris agreement.

In the green leafy suburbs of Melbourne (Carlton) thousands of miles from the coal mine's they target is Environmental Justice Australia and we need to understand who they are and their mission statement tells us just a little, “ We use our legal expertise to be a powerful force for change, to empower communities to protect the environment, and to achieve a better legal system that delivers justice to people and the planet”.                   

(see link https://www.envirojustice.org.au/who-we-are/)

For transparency Environment Justice Australia need to tell us about, where their funding comes from, what its spent on, how much has been raised and from where and what other organisations are they aligned too? It's well past time for a robust examination into all not for profit (NFP) status entities to ensure they are complying with the law as a tax free entity and their fundraising efforts are transparent. You can't demand transparency and disclosure of others while hiding behind a NFP status.

I can’t speak for the coal companies, Whitehaven (ASX: WHC), (Yancoal ASX: YAL) and New Hope (ASX: NHC) mentioned in today's article in the Australian, however providing more disclosure will never be enough for climate activists and billionaires.

#coal #ASX #disclosure

Whitehaven Coal buckles