Market Forces Exposes Fossil Fuel Blocklist—It’s Time to Pressure the Big Four

Climate finance organisation Market Forces has developed the first ever Fossil Fuel Company Blocklist for Australian banks: 23 fossil fuel customers of the big four banks whose business models are currently incompatible with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and must be ineligible for any new or renewed finance.

All four banks have publicly endorsed the Paris Agreement and pledged to transition their lending to align with its goals and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Yet Market Forces’ latest report finds that in the decade since the Paris Agreement (January 2016), Australia’s big four banks––ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac––have continuously violated these commitments by financing hundreds of fossil-fuel companies, providing $43.4 billion to the world’s major coal, oil and gas companies including over $30 billion for fossil fuel expansion.

In developing this report, Market Forces has captured a decade of the big four banks’ fossil fuel finance deals and filtered them through the Global Coal, Oil and Gas Exit Lists developed by the renowned research institute Urgewald. These lists cover the vast majority of companies responsible for fossil fuel production and combustion.

This analysis finds that, since 2024, a clear divergence has arisen. Commonwealth Bank and NAB have markedly reduced fossil fuel financing while ANZ and Westpac have continued to open their cheque books to some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies.

ANZ and Westpac now stand out as Australia’s fossil fuel banks, accounting for over 80% of all lending from the big four banks to ‘Exit List’ companies across 2024 and 2025. Rather than supporting a transition aligned with their own climate goals and commitments, Market Forces analysis finds that ANZ and Westpac are funding a new wave of fossil fuel expansion while Commonwealth Bank and NAB have denied finance for coal, oil and gas.

This research coincides with a new era for Australia’s big four banks. From 1 October 2025, finance from ANZ, NAB and Westpac to select fossil fuel clients will be conditioned on assessments of their Climate Transition Plans (CTPs).

This should mean fossil fuel clients unable to objectively demonstrate emissions reductions and concrete fossil fuel phaseout plans consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement should be ineligible for new or renewed finance.

However, the report finds that–like recent financing behaviour–the big fours’ CTP policies diverge: Commonwealth Bank and NAB show intent to use the policy to ditch fossil fuel companies misaligned with global climate goals, while ANZ and Westpac’s policies are little more than window dressing and greenwashing according to Market Forces.

Regardless of whether a big four bank’s CTP approach is credible, once it assesses a fossil fuel client’s CTP the bank will know whether that company is aligned with the Paris Agreement. Financing a company the bank knows is not aligned with its stated climate commitments will invite intense scrutiny and heighten regulatory, legal and reputational risk.

Critically, banks do not disclose client identities or announce when they participate in fossil fuel financing deals, making public scrutiny difficult.

Market Forces is actively monitoring the banks’ financing behaviour and will hold them to account for any deals that breach their climate commitments.

Write to your bank here.