Investor nuns have joined First Nations people to protest against international finance giant Citigroup over the bank's funding of fossil fuel projects, saying they violate the rights of Indigenous peoples.
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Citi is facing protests outside its offices around the world, including in Melbourne, Sydney, New York, Dallas, Seoul and Belfast.
Tiwi Islands traditional owners have made a human rights complaint to Citi over its financial support of Santos' Barossa gas project, off the coast of Darwin.
Senior Munupi man Pirrawayingi Puruntatameri, from Tiwi, said the Barossa project will desecrate their cultural and spiritual connection to the sea, marine animals and the environment.
"What Santos is doing, funded by CitiGroup, is damaging to the creatures and its environment but also to our people, in particular the Munupi people and our spiritual connection," he said.
In January the Federal Court dismissed a Tiwi challenge to Santos' gas pipeline in the Timor Sea.
Investor nuns from the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace in New Jersey are also protesting after Citi refused to their demands for disclosure on the effectiveness of its Indigenous rights policies.
They warned Citi shareholders in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which references the Tiwi people, that a new report by the bank on Indigenous issues does not meet the demands of their resolution, which is due to go before shareholders in a vote on April 30.
Similar resolutions by the nuns In 2022 and 2023 attracted more than 30 per cent of shareholder vote.
The Citi report on Indigenous issues admits that, despite flagging 16 clients over risks to Indigenous rights, none have been refused funding or services by the bank.
Out of the 37 projects identified as posing a risk to Indigenous rights, Citi refused funding for seven.
Barbara Daniel, a member of the Presentation Congregation, attended the protest Melbourne to stand in solidarity with the Sisters of St Joseph.
"CitiBank is the second biggest funder of fossil fuels in the world, the biggest funder of oil and gas in the Amazon, the biggest foreign funder of fossil fuel expansion in Africa," she said.
An alliance of seven Indigenous nations from the Peruvian Amazon, impacted by oil spills and rights violations by Citi client Petroperu, also denounced the report.
Olivia Bisa, president of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation in Peru, said in a statement that Citi needed to respect Indigenous peoples' right to free, prior and informed consent.
"Petroperu's disregard for Indigenous rights should mean something to the banks that lend them money but, in reality, their mutual business continues," she said.
Citi has refused to meet the groups when they travel from Peru to New York in two weeks.
Environmentalist Rachel Deans, a campaigner with Market Forces, said Citi had failed to respond to a grievance filed by Tiwi traditional owners in April 2023 calling its investment in Santos a breach of their human rights.
Comment has been sought from Santos.
The bank is also funding Indonesian coal company Adaro, which has been accused of human rights abuses in North, South and Central Kalimantan, she said.
"CitiGroup has pumped $332 billion dollars into fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 and it is the second biggest funder of fossil fuels in the world."
Australian Associated Press
