The future of one of the world’s greatest ecological treasures -- the Great Barrier Reef -- hangs in the balance. Now, the federal government has given Indian energy company Adani the go-ahead for the $16.5bn Carmichael coal mine that threatens the reef, will destroy the groundwater at its site and further cement our country’s terrible track record as the worst climate polluter in the developed world.

We have to act quickly if we want to stop the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.

Even though it has sign-off from the government, Adani will now have to find money to pay for the mega-project. Our Big Four banks (ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac) are its natural point of call. Since 2008, they've loaned a staggering $19 billion to new coal and gas projects in Australia.

But here is the good news: many international investors are getting cold feet. Deutsche Bank, HSBC Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland have all stepped away from funding the coal mine after the global outcry over the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef was growing too loud to ignore.

Let’s make sure that the Big Four hear the message loud and clear: we don’t want them to fund the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.

Call on Australia’s Big Four banks to announce that they will not fund the Adani coal mine.

The company behind the mine, Adani Group, is infamous for environmental destruction and other illegal activity. Research from Greenpeace shows that "the company’s unscrupulous activities in India have been aired in a number of government investigations and court hearings in India. They include bribery, illegal exports, building on private villagers’ land, and destroying a conservation area." Surely this is not a company that Australia’s big household banks want to gamble their reputation on?!

If the Big Four decide to fund the coal mine in the Great Barrier Reef it will hurt them financially as well. A recent survey found that 44% of customers of the Big Four banks would change banks if their current one funds a new coal port in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. That’s a whopping quarter of a trillion dollars the banks are at risk of losing out on.

Consumer pressure to save the Barrier Reef has worked before. Many big banks have made a U-turn and pulled their funds from controversial projects that threaten the Reef.

Together we can show the Big Four that their reputation and their dollars are on the line if they even consider investing in this monstrous project.

Tell the Big Four to publicly announce that they will not invest in the Carmichael Coal Mine.

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More information:

Greg Hunt approves Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Galilee Basin, The Australian, 28 July 2014

Greg Hunt clashes with environment groups over Carmichael mine approval, The Guardian, 29 July  

Carmichael coal mine’s impacts will be felt for generations, Greenpeace, 28 July