The German activist platform Campact is calling for signatures to an appeal to Deutsche Bank not to participate in funding the expansion of the Abbott Point coal port in Queensland.
You can add your signature at https://www.campact.de/great-barrier-reef/appell/teilnehmen/.
Expansion of the port north of Bowen is highly disputed. Environment activists warn that silt stirred by construction work will irreparably damage coral of the Great Barrier Reef. Continued mining of the coal is also causing risks. The unchecked and likely increased burning of coal could further heat climate change in the most literal sense of the word.
Next week the annual general meeting of Deutsche Bank takes place in Frankfurt. The Campact activists want to warn shareholders that such an ecologically fatal project will damage their bank's reputation. The new management could not then simply wave through new loans. The plan is to present at least 100,000 signatures to the shareholders and the management on 22 May.
About 123,000 signatures have already been sent in.
Deutsche Bank's own analysts have expressed doubts about the viability of coal investments. The bank has supported the first phase of Abbott Point and placed loans for it. It has not ruled out also supporting the port expansion.