Dr Richard Yin, a recently retired GP, and his partner Gabriele Yin, a freelance writer and translator and HESTA super fund member, explain why they have signed an open letter calling for HESTA to take greater action on climate.
Richard Yin and Gabriele Yin write:
We recently signed an open letter to our superannuation fund HESTA, asking them to lift their game as a responsible investor. We want our retirement savings to be supporting the solutions to address the climate health crisis, not fuelling it.
Last summer in Perth we experienced more days over 40 degrees and changing heat patterns. It was uncomfortable as well as alarming.
The last few weeks have made us even more concerned. Global temperatures in June were the highest ever recorded, wildfires continue to burn in Canada and extreme heatwaves are affecting hundreds of millions of people in many corners of the Earth, from the United States, to Europe, Africa and east Asia.
Beachy summers with the kids used to be something to look forward to, but with another likely El Niño this year and a high chance of extreme bushfires, we are dreading what this summer might bring, for us and more so for at-risk communities across Australia.
The burning of fossil fuels is one of the primary drivers of climate change that is making these extreme weather events more likely. Scientists tell us that we cannot open new projects if we are to have a chance to avoid extreme levels of warming.
The evidence is overwhelming. Health risks are accelerating due to climate change. The burning of fossil fuels causes air pollution that kills over eight million people around the world each year.
HESTA’s role
So why does health industry superannuation fund HESTA still invest in oil and gas companies, and what can we as members do about it?
HESTA claims to be a leader on climate change, yet it has over $2 billion invested in fossil fuels according to Market Forces, including one of the most polluting companies in Woodside. The company’s Scarborough to Pluto gas project is one of the largest fossil fuel projects currently proposed in Australia. And they continue to expand their production with the recent announcement of their Trion oil project in the Gulf of Mexico.
Woodside’s business model will have them increase their emissions by 45 percent in the next four years at a time when global carbon pollution needs to be urgently declining. Their actions are literally fuelling fires and heatwaves across the globe, including in Australia.
HESTA make much of their engagement with the fossil fuel companies, including Woodside. The fund states they hold shares, so they have a ‘seat at the table’ or a chance to influence the direction of those companies. HESTA says it will act in its members’ best interests and engage with fossil fuel producers to push for climate action and credible net zero pathways.
Engagement by responsible institutional investors like HESTA is important to pressure companies to act responsibly and transition away from harmful practices and products.
Institutional investors have both the power and the responsibility to support this transition by engaging with company boards or voting against company directors who are not doing enough on climate. But engagement needs to have real teeth and consequences if businesses fail to deliver. With Woodside, engagement to date has clearly failed.
Ongoing investment by HESTA supports the social licence of Woodside.
As a responsible institutional investor, it is time for HESTA to act more decisively. Investors like HESTA must get Woodside’s board to commit to a plan to phase out fossil fuel production, so that they are made publicly accountable. Likewise, HESTA must back this demand up with a commitment to cease its investment in Woodside if the company continues expanding fossil fuel production.
Contribute to change
So, as someone with super invested in HESTA or who has a relationship with HESTA as a sponsor, what can you do?
- One immediate action if you are a member is to sign the open letter coordinated by Market Forces and let the fund know of your dissatisfaction. They are meant to be acting on your behalf. Share the letter widely to colleagues and help build pressure on HESTA to act more decisively.
- If you receive sponsorship or funding from HESTA, you should make your position clear, engaging with them to take a stronger stance. You can consider ceasing to receive sponsorship until they divest their holdings from Woodside.
After this hottest June ever, more temperature records on land and in the ocean are expected to be broken this year. More climate records will be smashed in the next decade even with climate action, due to a delay from when emissions are released and when warming occurs.
There is an urgency to climate action, and we can all collectively play a part encouraging friends, colleagues, communities, businesses, and governments to act now.
Health professionals have a powerful voice. It was the health voice that delegitimised the social licence of tobacco companies. Collectively, for the sake and good health of our families and friends, patients and communities, we can do the same with fossil fuel companies.
***Update from Croakey, 31 July: HESTA was invited to respond to concerns raised in this article but declined to comment***
See Croakey’s latest coverage of the climate crisis
