Climate change is a public health emergency. The extraction and burning of fossil fuels – like gas – drives this crisis, worsening respiratory diseases, heat-related deaths, and extreme weather disasters that overwhelm health systems.
As healthcare workers and community advocates, we demand HESTA divest from Santos and Woodside to safeguard health.
Where does HESTA come in?
HESTA is one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds and one of four key superannuation funds in the healthcare industry.
In many healthcare settings, HESTA is the default super fund when starting a new role as a healthcare worker.
As Dr. Arjuna Dibley puts it, our superannuation funds are one of the most important ways that people can make a difference to the climate crisis.
Many people are with their employers default super fund automatically when starting their first, or a new, role.
However, our retirement savings – through the stocks our funds hold – can either help build a sustainable future, or when invested in fossil fuels, harm people and planetary health.
HESTA's investments in Santos and Woodside directly conflict with healthcare workers’ professional values of beneficence and equity.
HESTA has said they put these two big polluters 'on notice' by establishing an engagement 'watchlist', but nearly three years later, it seems this watchlist has served to defer rather than deliver on the urgent changes needed.
Healthy Futures believes HESTA should no longer continue to invest and engage in these major gas-polluting fossil fuel companies.
The Health Cost of Gas:
- Air pollution from the extraction and burning of gas worsens asthma, COPD and heart disease.
- Climate-driven disasters – fires, floods, and heatwaves – cause preventable deaths, increase trauma and displacement, and strain put on hospitals.
- Gas extraction is unequalising in its health impacts with vulnerable communities hit hardest. Notably, First Nations peoples near fossil fuel projects are most likely to feel the effects of this environmental degradation.
What is the link between HESTA and gas?
HESTA currently holds controversial shares in both Santos and Woodside. These two companies are Australia’s biggest oil and gas producers.
At 3%, HESTA’s shares in fossil fuels may seem a small proportion of their overall investment profile, yet this percentage of HESTA's wealth is worth over 2 billion dollars.
HESTA is seen as a leader in the field of Environmental and Social Governance or social corporate responsibility in the superannuation industry, and the decisions it makes confidently will encourage other funds to follow suit.
Why should HESTA be concerned about gas?
HESTA is a fund serving healthcare workers. It brands itself as a fund committed to taking action to address climate change and driving meaningful change for generations to come. However, investments in gas are questionable and at odds with HESTA's stated aims.
Methane pollution—an inevitable greenhouse gas by-product of gas extraction and processing—is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over the short term. Methane is also the main component of so-called 'natural gas', which, when used indoors, harms health.
Methane emissions are not just bad for the environment and human health; they are also a financial risk. As countries transition to clean energy, fossil fuel companies face being left with stranded assets and declining profits.
Moreover, the under accounting of methane pollution also risks emissions reduction budgets, both nationally (in terms of the safeguard mechanism), for the polluting companies themselves, and for HESTA's own accounting for pollution volume.
What is HESTA already doing and where do they fall short?
Alongside the fund's net-zero targets and growing investments in sustainable renewable stock ownership, in 2022, HESTA placed Santos and Woodside on an engagement watchlist. HESTA explained the watchlist as a mechanism for requesting companies to demonstrate how their business plans align with a 1.5°C scenario.
Santos and Woodside have now been on HESTA's watchlist for more than 2 and a half years.
However, since being placed on the list, both companies have decided to invest in new oil and gas supplies, meaning their committed emissions have increased significantly - and neither company has presented credible climate transition plans.
The bottom line is that HESTA’s incremental steps are eclipsed by continued financial support for Australia's biggest gas polluters. True leadership requires a balance between divestment and engagement - in the end, there are companies determined to expand gas production at the expense of a sustainable business model that shifts away from fossil fuels.
Continuing to invest in fossil fuel companies with ongoing expansion plans is no longer acceptable.
We are calling time’s up for engagement with Santos and Woodside.
What are we proposing HESTA do?
We are calling on HESTA to:
- Divest fully from Santos and Woodside – Aligning our investments with climate science by removing fossil fuel companies from their portfolio.
- Increase transparency – Clearly disclose the parameters of the watchlist they currently have Santos and Woodisde listed on.
- Strengthen climate commitments – Shift investments toward renewable energy and healthcare-aligned sustainable industries.
What you can do?
- Sign this open letter – Alongside your fellow HESTA members, and tell them it’s time to divest from Santos and Woodside.
- Spread the word – Share this campaign with colleagues and on social media using #HealthyFutures #DivestHESTA.
- Join Healthy Futures – Get involved in advocacy efforts to push for climate action in healthcare.
Sources:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Health Workforce. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/workforce/health-workforce
Australian Medical Association (AMA). (2023). One Health position statement. Australian Medical Association. https://www.ama.com.au/articles/one-health-position-statement
Beauchamp, T. L. (2007). The ‘four principles’ approach to health care ethics. In R. E. Ashcroft, A. Dawson, H. Draper, & J McMillan (Eds.), Principles of health care ethics (2nd ed., pp. 3-10). John Wiley & Sons.
Romanello, M., Walawender, M., Hsu, S. C., Moskeland, A., Palmeiro-Silva, Y., Scamman, D., ... & Costello, A. (2024). The 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: facing record-breaking threats from delayed action. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2024.100337
Royal Australian College of Practitioners (RACP). (2021). Climate Change and Australia’s Healthcare Systems A Review of Literature, Policy and Practice. https://www.racp.edu.au/docs/default-source/advocacy-library/climate-change-and-australias-healthcare-systems-a-review-of-literature-policy-and-practice.pdf?sfvrsn=efe8c61a_6
Tsakonas, K., Badyal, S., Takaro, T., & Buse, C. (2024). Rapid Review of the Impacts of Climate Change on the Health System Workforce and Implications for Action. The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 100337–100337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2024.100337
United Nations. (n.d.). Causes and Effects of Climate Change. United Nations; United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
Verney, P. (2022). HESTA puts big Aussie emitters on notice over climate misalignment concerns. Responsible Investor. https://www.responsible-investor.com/hesta-puts-big-aussie-emitters-on-notice-over-climate-misalignment-concerns
World Health Organization. (2019). Climate change. World Health Organization; World Health Organization: WHO. https://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change#tab=tab_1