The Australian government is lobbying for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to put more emphasis on coal and nuclear after concerns renewable energy projects were being prioritised.

Draft guidelines were circulated by the bank that suggest it should prioritise investments in renewable energy projects across Asia while the Turnbull government has argued fossil fuels will play a significant role in energy generation in the region for decades to come..

Australia joined the AIIB in June 2015, with then-treasurer Joe Hockey pledging an initial $930m to the bank. The AIIB has been working with the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and a range of other banks to satisfy an estimated US$8tn infrastructure shortfall across Asia.

The bank is still in the process of creating its identity, but its founding members, including Australia, have declared the AIIB should be a “green bank.”

The draft guidelines suggest the AIIB should not consider financing nuclear plants at this stage, because the bank would “have to develop the capacity to be involved in such complex and capital-intensive projects”. It says this decision could be revisited if justified.

It also suggests the AIIB should prioritise renewable energy generation over fossil fuel power. It says gas projects should be considered during the transition to a lower carbon intensity power mix, while coal and oil-fired power plants should be exceptionally considered “if cleaner technologies are not available for well-founded energy security or affordability reasons”.

Members of the AIIB board will meet in Beijing on Thursday and Friday to talk about the draft strategy.

Australia will be represented by Treasury official Chris Legg. Australia has a $3.7bn stake in the AIIB, making it the sixth-largest member (with voting power worth 3.8% of all members). China is the largest member, with a $28.8bn stake (and 28.8% voting power).

But the Australian government’s desire to have the AIIB’s investment strategy give more priority to fossil fuel projects runs contrary to Australian public opinion.



According to an online poll from Market Forces, taken between 15 and 19 August by Essential Research, 62% of Australians would prefer multilateral banks like the AIIB and World Bank to use taxpayer dollars to fund renewable energy projects.

The poll, of 1,017 respondents, found just 13% of Australians would prefer money to fund fossil fuel projects (with 26% unsure).

It also found that people aged 55 or over were more likely to indicate that they would prefer Australia to be funding renewable energy (66% compared to 59% of people aged 30-55, and 57% of people under 30).

The treasurer, Scott Morrison, said the government’s energy market policies, for Australia and the region, had to ensure that energy prices were more affordable, while reducing cost-of-living pressures and promoting growth.

“We must have a national energy strategy, and a real national energy market, with the strategy and infrastructure in place to support a new energy advantage and energy security for Australian companies and householders now and in the future,” he told Guardian Australia.

A spokesman said the government originally invested in the AIIB to support stronger regional development, saying economic growth was “vital to our region and Australia’s national prosperity”.

The AIIB has received submissions from governments, energy companies, non-government organisations and civil society groups about its draft energy investment strategy.

According to the Australian, the Minerals Council of Australia has argued in its submission that the draft fails to address “the central role that adequate access to ­secure and affordable energy plays, and will continue to play, in providing economic opportunity and better living standards for hundreds of millions of people in east and south Asia”.

“[The proposal] rightly endorses the notion of technology neutrality but then proposes the exclusion of some energy technologies and explicit preferment of others,” the MCA submission said.

Guardian Australia has contacted the Minerals Council.

Julien Vincent, the executive director of Market Forces, said he was concerned the government was trying to create opportunities for an industry that was in structural decline globally.

“We’ve got banks walking away from funding huge coal projects … so you’ve got less commercial credit available,” he said.

“[But] the government’s trying to push into an area where more credible lenders and financial actors are actually moving away from. And it’s with public money as well.”