On Monday the San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network said it had pressured Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase into making written commitments to not bankroll the terminal, which would require dredging near the Great Barrier Reef.
“These banks have clearly taken a good look at the Abbot Point plan and decided that dredging a World Heritage Site to make way for coal ships is obviously a terrible idea.” RAN Climate and Energy Program Director Amanda Starbuck said.
RAN also noted that Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays, Credit Agricole and BlackRock had previously ruled out any possible financing for Adani or fellow Galilee Basin player GVK Hancock Coal.
“This new move by major US banks signals that the Adani Group and GVK may be unsuccessful in their bid to secure an estimated $26.5 billion in external financing necessary for the planned expansion of coal export facilities and associated mine and rail infrastructure,” RAN claimed.
Follow-up reports by the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wall Street Journal, with the latter claiming that Morgan Stanley “would not lend to or invest in the expansion of Abbot Point”, convinced Adani to respond to this “financing coverage”.
Adani said it had not sought any funding from Citibank, Goldman Sachs, or JPMorgan Chase.
“The premise that institutions who have not been asked to provide funding, have no insight into our projects, and have not studied the details, have declined to or distanced themselves from involvement is rejected,” the Australian branch of the Indian conglomerate said.
In regards to Morgan Stanley, Adani revealed this bank’s Australian branch was an advisor on the potential sale of Adani’s existing terminal asset, T1, also at Abbot Point.
“Any partial sale of Adani's current holdings at the port would – far from a withdrawal from the port- in fact be used to deliver the port's expansion,” the company clarified.
Adani further said the terminal seeks to build, T0, was not in a World Heritage Area.
It also defended the quality of the environmental assessments facing Abbot Point’s expansion plans.
“The approvals process for this expansion rank among the most rigorous and stringent ever applied in Australia, the USA or the rest of the world,” Adani said.
“The approvals given, subject to strict conditions from not just the federal but also the state government, are key to underpinning community confidence in the port, which has operated safely and without incident for thirty years.
“It is misleading to suggest that these approvals, benchmarked against the most stringent global standards, are at issue.
“They are as robust, if not more so, than any applying to projects that any banks invest in around the world.”
