Environment
Engaging employees - it starts with us
One of the best ways to increase awareness and understanding about climate change issues is to get involved; and this is the approach we take with our 40,000 employees.
What employees can do
- Over 5% belong to a sustainability champions’ program called ‘Our Tomorrow’ (that’s more than 2,000 people)
- Discuss and communicate climate issues, share relevant information, blog, organise speaker events etc via a dedicated climate change section on the intranet
- Incorporate sustainability objectives into remuneration reviews.
What employers can do
Help employees develop local responses to emerging issues within their teams and communities. At Westpac:
- We offer a $4,000 interest loan to help employees undertake water and energy saving activities at home
- Encouraged staff to reduce their footprint in the office through initiatives like the use of reusable cups in all our cafes, paper reduction campaigns, and energy reduction programs
- Endorse employee working groups in specific geographic locations to focus on local environmental projects.
Access to training research and information
Since 2008, more than 1,100 employees - from relationship, credit and other risk roles - have completed carbon risk training.
This ensures employees have the right skills, tools and capabilities to support customers in understanding and managing their climate impacts, particularly given the complex and sometimes conflicting nature of climate issues.
Additionally, we've supported the development of a range of resources, including regular carbon updates, a dedicated intranet site, client engagement toolkits and sector policies and research on high risk sectors.
Finally, we've also made changes to the way we consider credit risk, including underwriting standards, in clean tech and emerging low carbon industries to help us more effectively support customers in the deployment of low emission solutions.
