Australian investment bank Macquarie has changed its investment rules to fund coking coal mines, in a partial reversal of its 2021 coal financing ban.

The bank made the change in November 2024, it said in its annual report for the year ended 31 March, released last week. It will now make short-term funding deals lasting less than 12 months for coking coal developments, to help producers buy, expand, or run coking coal mines. Macquarie's rule change still bans long-term investments in coking coal projects.

There are few viable alternatives to coking coal for the steel and industrial sectors, Macquarie said.

The company has maintained its ban on thermal coal financing, apart from specific emissions reduction projects. It is also working on supporting emissions reduction projects in the Australian oil and gas sectors, although it did not disclose which projects.

Macquarie is not the only bank moving away from fossil fuel financing. Australian bank ANZ will stop lending capital to companies heavily involved in the thermal coal sector by2030. It reduced its lending to thermal coal mining firms by 85pc between 2015 and July 2024,it said in July last year. It also stopped [funding new upstream oil and gas projects](https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2566501), with limited exceptions, in May 2024.

Macquarie has expanded its climate finance role over recent years. The bank set up a renewable energy business to fund utility-scale projects in Australia and New Zealand in November 2023.

Macquarie is also involved in carbon markets. The company is continuing to help clients with compliance and voluntary carbon markets, including in newer locations like China, the company said, without disclosing further details. It has also purchased and retired 59,164t of CO2 equivalent of Australian Carbon Credit Units and other voluntary offsets to cover business travel in its 2024-25 financial year ended 31 March.

By Avinash Govind