Macquarie Group Holds Nearly A$5 Billion in Fossil Fuel Expansion Stakes

Despite signing the Net Zero Banking Alliance in October 2021, Macquarie Group has taken major stakes and issued loans to oil and gas companies with aggressive expansion plans totalling nearly A$5 billion, which IEEFA's analysis finds directly contradicts the bank's 1.5-degree climate commitment. A broader assessment of Macquarie's upstream oil and gas exposure through shares and bonds found approximately A$7.7 billion in total exposure.

The IEEFA report identifies specific investments made by Macquarie Group since 2022, including a 5 percent stake in Beach Energy, which is targeting new developments across five basins in Australia and New Zealand; A$15 million in finance to Empire Energy for the controversial Beetaloo Basin shale gas project in Australia's largest undeveloped gas resource; and an undisclosed contribution to a A$3 billion loan for Southwestern Energy, a U.S. company whose planned expansion would generate CO2 exceeding Australia's total annual emissions as of 2021.

Macquarie disclosed only A$1.2 billion in financing exposure to the full oil and gas value chain in its public reporting, a figure that appears to exclude off-balance-sheet equity and bond investments. IEEFA identifies this as a potential exploitation of a loophole in the NZBA guidelines, which do not currently mandate member banks to establish targets for fossil fuel exposure through off-balance-sheet activities. Macquarie's disclosed oil and gas financing exposure is also below the levels disclosed by three of Australia's Big 4 banks: CBA at A$2.1 billion, NAB at A$1.9 billion, and Westpac at A$1.9 billion.

IEEFA notes that Macquarie's emissions intensity target for oil and gas, set as part of its NZBA commitment, does not require any reduction in absolute financed emissions and could theoretically incentivise increased financing of gas projects to lower the average emissions intensity of its overall oil and gas portfolio. The report calls on Macquarie to disclose its off-balance-sheet equity and bond investments in oil and gas within its financed emissions reporting, consistent with its already-disclosed practice of including assets under management in green energy investment totals.

Key figure — A$7.7 billion — IEEFA's estimate of Macquarie Group's total upstream oil and gas exposure through shares and bonds, excluding loans