Climate Fund Invests A$103m in Fossil Fuels, Mining and Weapons, Report Finds

Melbourne — Australia’s Disaster Ready Fund, established to help communities prepare for climate-related disasters, holds more than AU$103 million in investments across mining, fossil fuels and weapons manufacturing, according to research released by Friends of the Earth Melbourne.

The findings, published by online outlet Cheek Media, raise questions about whether the government-backed fund’s investment portfolio aligns with its stated purpose of reducing disaster risks and its responsible investment priorities.

Research by Friends of the Earth’s Act on Climate Collective identified approximately AU$58 million invested in mining companies, including BHP and Rio Tinto, AU$33 million in fossil fuel interests and AU$10 million in weapons manufacturers.

The fossil fuel holdings reportedly include Woodside, Santos, Chevron and AU$1.6 million in APA Group.

The collective argues that investments in major fossil fuel producers contradict the fund’s role in preparing Australians for the worsening effects of climate change, including floods, bushfires and storms.

“This is a dangerous contradiction,” said August Wylynko, an Act on Climate campaigner with Friends of the Earth.

“The government is mobilising to help communities brace for floods, fires and storms caused by the climate crisis, while simultaneously streaming funds into the coal, gas and oil giants driving that crisis,” he said.

The Disaster Ready Fund provides up to AU$1 billion over five years for projects intended to reduce disaster risks and strengthen community resilience.

Friends of the Earth says its investment findings expose a gap between the fund’s climate-related objectives and the industries represented in its portfolio.

The group also questioned the implementation of the fund’s Responsible Investment Policy, which identifies climate change, nature and biodiversity risks as key priorities.

Wylynko said fossil fuel companies were benefiting from public investment despite their role in contributing to the emissions associated with climate change.

“Fossil fuel companies already take advantage of public subsidies, run away with monster profits and don’t pay enough tax. Now they are also profiting from our public climate adaptation efforts,” Wylynko said.

“Polluters should be paying for the destruction of climate change they have profited from. Instead, they are benefiting from further public investment," he said.

The campaign group further cited investments across the broader Sovereign Wealth Fund, including more than AU$700 million in Woodside, $300 million in Santos and AU$3.8 billion in BHP.

It also listed AU$5.2 billion in ANZ and AU$8 billion in BlackRock, arguing that these holdings create additional exposure to fossil fuels and weapons-related investments.

Those wider figures relate to the broader fund, rather than the Disaster Ready Fund’s separately identified AU$103 million portfolio, and should not be treated as direct DRF holdings.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to withdraw investments from fossil fuel producers and extractive industries, arguing that disaster preparedness must address the underlying causes of climate change as well as its consequences.

“Investing in resilience means cutting off the funding streams that make disasters worse.

"Every dollar invested in Woodside or Santos is a dollar working against the safety of Australian communities,” Wylynko said.

“The Australian Government cannot claim to be addressing the climate crisis without divesting from the companies creating it," he said.