WIN FOR BARRIER REEF - ANOTHER GETUP SUCCESS EXPLAINED

Townsville , headquarters  of  the Great Barrier Reef  Marine Park  Authority .Townsville Bulletin  gave  bank  rejection  a mere six paragraphs without mention of  GetUp  involvement . 

*******************************************

Deutsche  Bank, one of  the  world's biggest investment banks, has ruled out funding the huge Abbot Point expansion on the Great Barrier Reef coastline.

GetUp says  it  will be so much harder for the Indian coal companies to borrow the tens of billions of dollars they need to dig up coal, dredge millions of tonnes of seabed, and ship it though our Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. This has been an incredible effort spanning multiple countries, numerous organisations and hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world.

It all started on Monday, just days before Deutsche Bank's AGM, when investors across the world were watching closely. GetUp members mobilised with a huge last-minute fundraising effort to run a full page colour ad in the biggest financial newspaper in Europe.The ad sparked international media coverage, including a major feature in Germany's leading newspaper. It talked about "the powerful group GetUp who were pressuring Deutsche Bank not to support the Reef projects." The Financial Review in Australia said it was "another example of increasingly sophisticated campaigning by environmental groups."

Then, when all eyes were on Deutsche Bank right before their annual general meeting, concerned people flooded their Facebook page, targeted them on Twitter, and filled their inboxes with emails. The result was unequivocal. The head of Deutsche Bank's Supervisory Board declared "we are currently not involved with this project and will also not be involved with it in the future.".

GetUp says this extraordinary result has come about from a remarkable local effort, and a truly global campaign. A special thank you to Campact, an organisation just like GetUp based in Germany. Thank you also to  WWF Germany, Greenpeace, Market Forces, Urgewald, AMCS, BankTrack and all others who have been a part of this. Without them, none of this would have been possible..." But most of all, thank you. Thanks to you and to the hundreds of thousands of people in Australia and Germany who united to build this irresistible force. "

Change like this can only come about when  enough people determined to make a difference come  together, says  GetUp..." Individually we are small, but together we can beat anyone. This time, we took on one of the largest investment banks in the world. We know this decision will send a definitive statement to other potential investors around the world: investing  in the destruction of our Reef is not worth the risk. "

Now, it's time for Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and NAB to follow suit.