An industrial plant at Newcastle port on Australia's east coast emits vapour from various buildings June 20, 2009. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne
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GREEN-ISH. National Australia Bank’s (NAB.AX) green loan to the world’s largest coal port only gets some of the job done. The country’s third-largest lender by market value has led a A$515 million ($398 million) refinancing for the Port of Newcastle – the first such loan to a seaport Down Under.
NAB is tying the interest rate on the sustainability-linked loan to the port reducing its own greenhouse-gas emissions , as well as other goals like ensuring suppliers aren’t involved in slavery. That’s fine, so far as it goes. But it ignores the elephant in the room: The Port of Newcastle makes the overwhelming amount of its money from coal shipments.
Some of the proceeds for the loan are likely to be used to diversify the products it handles. But the lenders aren’t setting any targets on that score. That’s a missed opportunity and risks making NAB’s loan look like the wrong sort of green. (By Antony Currie)
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Earlier in Capital Calls:
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Capital Calls: Aussie bank's green coal-port loan burns lukewarm - Reuters
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