Letter to IGCC

Rebecca Mikula-Wright
Chief Executive Officer
Investor Group on Climate Change

Dear Ms Mikula-Wright,

Re: Concerns Regarding IGCC Member Investments in Rural NSW Renewable Energy Projects

We are writing on behalf of a coalition of 15 community groups, representing more than 5000 individuals across rural New South Wales. Collectively, our members hold deep and generational connections to the land and communities that are now being profoundly impacted by large-scale renewable energy and transmission developments.

We respectfully request that you share this letter with the 102 superannuation and institutional investor members of the Investor Group on Climate Change.

Our message is clear: rural families and communities will not stand by and watch the destruction of our countryside, livelihoods, and heritage due to poorly conceived, designed, and imposed renewable energy projects, including wind & solar factories, pumped hydro, battery energy storage systems and transmission lines. These developments are proceeding without genuine social license or community acceptance, and in many cases, in direct opposition to the wishes of the local people who live and work in these regions feeding and clothing the nation.

We remind your members that we, too, are investors—through our superannuation. We have the right to choose where our retirement savings are invested. If current investment decisions continue to support projects that show disregard for rural communities and landscapes, we will exercise our right to redirect our investments into funds that align with our values and respect for regional Australia.

We strongly urge IGCC and its members to reconsider their investment frameworks to include true community engagement, consent, and social license as core, non-negotiable criteria for funding energy projects. Investors must not be complicit in pushing forward industrial-scale developments that fracture communities, degrade the land, and jeopardise food security while eroding trust in both institutions and the energy transition process.

At the very least investors should be demanding that proponents are acting in not just the communities they are operating in interests but also aligned with investor goals. These goals are not motivated only by profit but by a desire to save the planet. This surely must include rural Australia.

In the coming weeks, we will be contacting individual IGCC member funds to make our views known and to request clarification on their investment policies and community consultation standards.

We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to seeing responsible investment leadership that values not just environmental outcomes, but also the social and cultural fabric of Australia’s rural heartland.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the signatories below for further discussion. We look forward to hearing from you and entering into a meaningful discussion that will benefit all Australians.

Sincerely,

Tim White
On behalf of the signatory rural community groups:-
Batting for Booralong (B4B) (New England)
Burrendong SOS (Central West NSW)
CWO ReZist (Central West NSW)
Dungowan Creek Alliance (Tamworth)
Friends Of Kentucky Action Group (FOKAG) (New England)
HumeLink Action Group (Southern NSW)
HumeLink Alliance (Southern NSW)
Limbri Community Group (Tamworth)
National Rational Energy Network (NREN) - Australia wide
RED4NE (New England)
Save Guerie - Stop Boree Solar Project (Central West NSW) Thurles Partners (Upper Hunter) 
Uarbry Tongy Land Alliance (UTLA) Central West NSW
Valley Alliance (Upper Hunter & Tamworth)
Voice for Walcha (New England)