Westpac executives have caught another earful from shareholder activists who are disappointed the country's oldest bank is not doing more to distance itself from fossil fuel companies.
Shareholders have again handily rejected an effort brought by activist group Market Forces related to climate change, with a preliminary tally indicating the first of two resolutions on the matter would receive about 6.6 per cent of the vote at Friday's annual general meeting.
Westpac passed a climate action plan in 2023 requiring its upstream oil and gas customers to have credible climate transition plans by September 2025 to receive further corporate lending and bond facilitation.
However, Market Forces chief executive Will van de Pol told the meeting Westpac had not clearly explained how the policy would be applied.
"This calls into question the purpose of this cornerstone climate policy," he said.
"Existing fossil fuel customers, the reality is that many are doing everything they can to delay the transition by seeking to lock in fossil fuel expansion projects that will emit for decades to come."
The policy did not clarify to investors whether Westpac would continue to provide financing to companies such as Santos, which was working to develop three new oil and gas projects, Mr van de Pol said.
Company executives said they took climate change very seriously, with the bank meeting its goals for cutting emissions six years ahead of schedule.
Westpac has also committed to zero lending to thermal coal projects by the end of 2025 and would not lend to new metallurgical coal projects, chief executive Peter King said.
"We're a big bank. We're making huge efforts here. I understand where you're coming from, but I do believe we're making a big difference here," Mr King told one activist, noting that Westpac had already substantially reduced its lending to fossil fuel emitters.
Roy Tasker, a professor of chemistry at Western Sydney University, highlighted an apparent loophole in Westpac's climate plan in that it only applied to what was known as "upstream" oil and gas operators - those involved in extracting the resource.
But Westpac, Prof Tasker said, had also provided financing for an oil and gas company considered "midstream" - in that it transported the fossil fuel - namely pipeline operator APA Group.
The company is proposing to build large-scale pipelines to unlock shale gas projects in the Northern Territory.
"This is horrific, ladies and gentlemen, genuinely horrific," Prof Tasker said.
"It is estimated that burning the gas from Beetaloo would produce 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over its lifetime.
"That is over two and a half times the emissions that Australia produced this year."
Pipelines played a key role in developing new gas fields, so there was no reason Westpac's climate policy should not apply to pipeline operators, Prof Tasker said.
Westpac chairman Steven Gregg said the bank's policy had focused on upstream developers because that was where it thought it could make the biggest difference.
"In time to come, we will review our downstream policy as well," he said.
"So we hear what you're saying, and we'll be reviewing."
Mr King said Westpac provided $10 billion in sustainable finance and $5 billion in bond issuance related to helping companies with their climate transition in 2023/24.
The defeated motion would have amended Westpac's constitution so a second resolution - asking Westpac for more details on how it would apply its climate plan - could be considered.
The second resolution was not formally put to the meeting for a vote because the first one failed.
