Banks: don't back PLN's polluting coal plans

Children in Indonesia are suffering from bronchitis, tuberculosis and even dying because of PLN’s greedy fossil fuel expansion.

PLN is Indonesia’s biggest electricity provider. But instead of generating clean energy from renewable sources, the corporation continues to burn dirty coal. Air pollution and ash from its coal plants has killed more than 2,500 people.

But PLN is running out of money to finance its polluting plans and is desperately going to western banks like Citi, HSBC, ING, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered asking them to back its €500 million bond. This is where we come in. If we show the banks just how toxic PLN’s plans are they’ll have no choice but to walk away.

Tell Citi, HSBC, ING, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered and other complicit banks: don’t fund PLN’s polluting plans.

PLN’s big bond is maturing in October this year. Which means PLN must pay back the €500 million it borrowed, or try and get it refinanced through the banks. Western banks Citi, HSBC, ING, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered were all involved in financing PLN’s old bond, but since then HSBC and Standard Chartered have started to scale back their support for coal projects.

Global momentum is building for clean, renewable energy sources every day. Solar and wind are the cheapest form of new energy and the banks know this. Let’s make sure they don’t bow to pressure from PLN to keep financing polluting and outdated forms of energy.

Sign the petition: Citi, HSBC, ING, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered and others don’t finance PLN’s coal addiction.

We’ve done it before. Together, we forced Indonesian coal giant Adaro to spin off its coal business. HSBC and Standard Chartered are already backing away from coal projects worldwide. With enough pressure, we can make them walk away from PLN too.