Environment
Water
In late 2007 The Westpac Group committed to the UN’s CEO Water Mandate. Whilst we are not a large user of water, the indirect impacts of water shortages are potentially great for both our customers and the communities in which we operate, as already evidenced by the recent droughts in Australia.
The following outlines our progress on each dimension of the Mandate:
Direct operations
- We report water consumption for our Australian operations in our Annual Review and Sustainability Reports and are working to report on sites outside of Australia
- We're working with local water authorities and landlords to implement water saving initiatives. For example, our Sydney headquarters, Westpac Place, utilises a stormwater harvesting system which collects rain water run off and re-uses it in the air-conditioning system cooling towers to replenish cooling water lost through evaporation.
Supply chain and watershed management
- Our supplier selection process includes questions regarding the management of environmental issues
- Carbon and Water forums have been established in our institutional and agricultural businesses to manage our indirect water impacts.
Public Policy
- We're a participant in the Australian Banker’s Association water security group engaged in public policy recommendations and contributing to the current policy debate in Australia
Community engagement
- We provide relief packages for farmers in drought affected areas, including support for counselling services
Transparency
- Detailed water data is provided in our online report and we regularly provide case studies and other contributions on our activities
