New research has found that the 30 largest superannuation funds in Australia invested $34 billion in fossil fuel companies, both domestic and overseas, in 2022.
Market Forces, an environmentalist organisation that wants financial institutions to “go green,” has released an analysis indicating that Australia’s biggest funds have raised their investment in companies developing coal, oil and gas projects by 50 percent in the past year.
Specifically, it said those super funds had around 9.3 percent of their members’ share investments in fossil fuel companies on average in 2022, up from 6.3 percent in the previous year.
Applying this data to the entire super industry, Market Forces estimated that companies directly involved in expanding fossil fuels were now holding over $140 billion worth of Australians’ retirement savings….