The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says banks should consider attaching “deforestation” conditions on loans in a proposal most likely to impact farmers.
The ACF claimed that over 200,000 hectares of koala-inhabited habitat in Queensland, Australia, were destroyed in the past 10 years and that over 364,000 hectares of native vegetation were cleared from 2018 to 2020—land allegedly classified as “deforestation” under global definitions.
The group further claimed that 50 percent of the land cleared was for just 267 properties (241 owners), namely farmers. Around 60 percent of these were linked to Australian banks via a mortgage or security.
The biggest lender was National Australia Bank, with the others being Rabobank, Commonwealth, ANZ, Suncorp, and Westpac….