Catherine Rossiter v ANZ Group Holdings Limited

An affidavit and an application for preliminary discovery were filed by applicant Catherine Rossiter on Nov. 9, 2023, in the Federal Court of Australia. The applicant sought copies of ANZ’s internal risk management framework, based on her concerns about the bank not properly managing the risks of climate change and biodiversity loss. The claim was supported by ANZ's obligation, under the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's Prudential Standard CPS 220 Risk Management, to maintain a risk management strategy that addresses material risks, and experts' agreement that climate change and biodiversity loss are material risks to financial institutions. The parties agreed, on April 22, 2024, that Mrs. Rossiter discontinue the proceedings with no order as to costs. This was after ANZ acknowledged in its 2023 report the materiality of climate risk and ANZ's commitment to managing the risk. ANZ further announced after the discontinuance that it will no longer provide project finance to new or expanded oil and gas projects, ruling out its involvement with the Papua LNG project.