In its letter to the mining company—which doesn’t want to be named—the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), owned by National Australia Bank, said it was making the decision in accordance with its net zero policy.
This requires that the bank cap its exposure to coal since 2019, exit thermal coal mining by 2025, and metallurgical coal mining by 2030. Metallurgical coal, known as coking coal, is used to produce steel.
“These are parts of BNZ’s commitments to the Paris Agreement on climate change. The bank wants to support customers’ transition, and where transition is not possible provide advance notice of exit dates for banking services such that customers can seek alternate providers,” the letter said, as cited by the New Zealand Herald.
BNZ’s standard terms and conditions gave the bank the right to close customers’ accounts “for any reason.”The announcement was also unsurprising, given that banks from around the world signed a pledge at the U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow in 2021 to help drive emissions to net zero.
