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Mr Peter Sands Group Chief Executive Standard Chartered Bank 1 Basinghall Avenue London, EX2V 5DD Cc: Bill Winters, incoming Group Chief Executive; Richard Goulding, Group Chief Risk Officer; Stephen Atkinson, Global Head of Corporate Affairs; and Mark Devadason, Group Head of Sustainability.

Tuesday, 19th May 2015

Dear Mr Sands,

RE: Financial Support for Proposed Coal Mining Projects in the Galilee Basin, Queensland Australia

We write to you as a collection of civil society organizations who are concerned about your institution’s potential participation in financing for proposed coal mining and export projects in Australia’s Galilee Basin and its related port expansion projects. The proposed mines and associated rail and export infrastructure pose severe threats to the Great Barrier Reef, to communities, and to the global climate.

Over the past twelve months, eleven international banks have ruled out investment in Galilee Basin/Abbot Point coal export projects in Australia. We request that Standard Chartered do the same. In particular, we ask that Standard Chartered make a public commitment to stop (directly or indirectly) financially supporting development of new coal export terminals at Abbot Point, along with any associated Galilee Basin coal mines, or related infrastructure such as rail.

The Carmichael, Alpha, and Abbot Point integrated projects

Two major integrated coal projects are planned for Central Queensland, each of which comprises an open-pit coal mine, a railway, and coal loading facility. The larger project is the Carmichael mine which is estimated to need $AUD16.5 billion in external financing, and which would produce up to 60 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) of coal for export at peak production. The mine would move coal on a planned rail line to Abbot Point, where the proponent of the project plans to build a coal loading facility, which would require dredging in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area. A second project, the proposed Alpha mine would require $AUD10 billion in external financing and would produce up to 30 MTPA of coal for export through Abbot Point. The project would also require the construction of a rail link and a coal loading facility at Abbot Point, which would again involve dredging in the Great Barrier Reef.

We note that Standard Chartered is signatory to the Equator Principles, and take this opportunity to highlight the social, environmental and financial risks posed by these projects below:

Impacts on the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area: The Great Barrier Reef is Australia’s - and indeed one of the world’s - most cherished natural icons. Polling has shown that over 90 percent of Australians believe that protecting the Reef should be a high priority, whilst 9 in 10 Australians are concerned about the impact that coal projects will have on the Reef. 85% of Australians believe that that

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protecting the Reef is more important than expanding the coal industry. Nevertheless, the Great Barrier Reef’s unique ecosystems are under threat from these new coal export terminal proposals, and the dredging, dumping, sharp increases in movements of huge coal ships through the Reef environment, and other impacts required to build and operate them. The Australian Coral Reef Society recently noted that plans to expand Abbot Point Port will damage the Outstanding Universal Values of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) World Heritage Area (WHA). Damage will flow from pollution from dredging the Reef sea floor, and from dumping of that material. This pollution will also destroy habitat that is vital for a range of species, including turtles, dugongs, and dolphins, while hundreds of hectares of important seagrass meadow habitat will also be lost. In June 2014 UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee (WHC) noted dredging and dumping for the Abbot Point development with concern, giving the Australian Government until 2015 to ensure the health of the reef. They have threatened placing the GBR on the List of World Heritage in Danger, potentially jeopardising the $6 billion reef tourism industry. Impacts on water security, environment, and local economies: The mine projects pose a threat to Central Queensland water security and to the viability of local farming businesses. The project will create considerable damage at the mine-site, with unsustainable quantities of water-use and damage to nationally significant local water-systems. Modelling of these impacts on both ground and surface water has been inadequate, with the proponent of the Project’s nominated water expert recently describing models as ‘cartoonish’ in court. The project will also endanger listed threatened species, including the endangered black throated finch. Reef tourism operators have expressed concerns about the impact that lower water quality and other environmental damage will have on their $6 billion per year industry.

Climate change impacts: The Galilee Basin coal mine projects would each generate quantities of greenhouse gas pollution that would dwarf those associated with any previous Australian resources project. For example, projected annual greenhouse gas emissions from coal produced by the proposed Carmichael mine would exceed those of the entire Korean economy.

Financial risks: A string of recent reports have given reasons for deep concern about the future of the seaborne thermal coal market. Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently cut its 2015 forecast price for Australian seaborne thermal coal from US$65 to US$57 per tonne, and US$52 per tonne in 2016. In its ‘Coal bites the dust’ research report, the Bank says it expects Chinese coal imports to fall in both 2015 and 2016 due to weaker demand in the power sector and increasing renewable generation. Bank of America has also recently announced a new coal policy which will continue to reduce its exposure across the board to companies involved in coal extraction. With global export markets over-supplied with thermal coal, the prospects for large new greenfields coal projects look extremely poor.

Public concern: High levels of public concern about these projects have been demonstrated at the local, national, and international levels, with many hundreds of thousands of Australians taking campaign actions of various types over the last year. Dozens of regional Queensland communities have held protests and marches during the past few months, while internationally, several million people have taken action to oppose the project. It is no surprise therefore that a 2015 report ranked the Abbot Point project the third biggest threat to corporate reputation of any project currently progressing globally (from 12,000 assessed).

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We wish to draw explicitly to your attention that a large global coalition of not-for-profit organizations and community groups are mobilizing - both online, and offline - to oppose the proposed coal terminals at Abbot Point, Galilee Basin coal, and related infrastructure.

In accordance with the Equator Principles, Standard Chartered has adopted policies that restrict financing for projects that harm World Heritage sites, degrade critical habitat and impact on endangered species or that harm indigenous peoples’ rights. Therefore financing these projects are demonstrably inconsistent with your environmental, social, and governance commitments.

The Australian regulatory system has manifestly failed to protect the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland communities, water resources, or the global climate. For that reason, we repeat our request that Standard Chartered further its engagement with our organisations, and make a clear public commitment to rule out any involvement in arranging or providing finance for new coal terminals at Abbot Point, associated Galilee Basin coal mines, and any related infrastructure.

We would appreciate a response to this request by May 30th.

Yours sincerely, 350.org, Friends of the Earth, BankTrack, Mackay Conservation Group, Whitsunday Residents Against Dumping and Dredging, SumOfUs, Rainforest Action Network, The Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Market Forces, The Sierra Club, 38 Degrees and Greenpeace.