Samsung Securities pledges no further financial backing for Adani coal after protest
A company in the Samsung group will not provide any further financial backing for Adani’s coal port in Queensland or any of the company’s coal projects just days after protests targeted the group’s electronics brand.
In an email to campaigners, seen by Guardian Australia, Samsung Securities said it would not provide any further financing for the Adani Abbot Point Terminal or “any of Adani’s coal projects.”
Campaign group Market Forces had written to Samsung Securities in early June asking the company to end its relationship with the Adani coal port, expressing concerns the mine’s development would open up the Galilee Basin to further coal developments that would fuel global heating.
As Guardian Australia reported Thursday, the Samsung Securities brokerage company had purchased a share of $120m of debt in the Adani-owned Abbot Point coal terminal in 2019 with another Korean firm.
Coal from Adani’s Carmichael mine will travel by a purpose-built rail line to the terminal for export to power stations.
On Wednesday, 15 young people who are part of the School Strike 4 Climate Australia campaign group held a protest outside a Samsung store in Sydney. The group had called for a boycott of Samsung’s products.
Samsung Electronics has said it is “a separate corporate entity from Samsung Securities and has no connection to Adani”.
Protest organiser Bailey Linton-Simpkins, a year 10 student at Epping Boys high school, said: “Samsung’s rapid retreat from Adani’s disastrous coal project shows the power of public pressure and just how toxic and damaging Adani’s coal is for corporate brands that associate with it.
“Samsung’s retreat should serve as a warning to other companies who are investing in Adani’s coal port who must follow Samsung’s lead and commit to no further funding for Adani’s coal port and Carmichael coal project.
“Our future is under threat, and companies that help fuel that threat are massively damaging their own brands.
“Financial institutions must commit to stop using their money to back new fossil fuel projects and instead help drive the transition to renewable energy.”
In the email sent to Market Forces late on Thursday, Samsung Securities said when it had approved the debt purchase, “we were unaware of the various environmental issues relating to the Carmichael mine as the debt was solely for the Terminal.”
The email said the company “will commit that we will not be providing further financing for the Terminal and any of the Adani’s coal projects”.
Pablo Brait, a campaigner at Market Forces, said Samsung Securities had responded rapidly to public pressure and that other Adani creditors should join the company in committing to have no further involvement in the coal project.
He said: “We hope this acts as a wake-up call for Samsung, which is actively involved in several other new coal projects around the world and needs to stop expanding the fossil fuel industry if it is serious about tackling the climate crisis.”
Guardian Australia contacted Samsung Securities and Samsung Electronics for comment.
A representative of Samsung Securities confirmed to Guardian Australia the email was the company’s position.