Sustainability in action
Assessing sustainable risks in lending
The Westpac Group has an overarching Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Risk Management Framework which articulates our approach to managing ESG risks in all aspects of our operations, including lending and investment.
The Westpac Group's lending and investment policies are guided by Our Principles for Doing Business which set out commitments governing our response to ethical issues, such as respecting human rights; preventing financial crimes and the management of environmental risks.
These principles align with global initiatives including the UN Global Compact; ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; and the CAUX Round Table Principles for Business. Westpac is also signatory to a number of global commitments and frameworks.
Lending policies
The Westpac Group has developed the first three of a proposed suite of position statements to clarify our approach to assessing the ESG dimensions of our financing and lending activities.
These include a description of our ESG Credit Risk Policy, ‘Westpac’s approach to Sustainable Finance’ as well as position statements for the defence and energy sectors.
These position statements are available for your information:
The position statements are supported by policies contained in Westpac’s business and institutional credit manuals.
In addition, our Environmental Lending Policy takes environmental risks into account when evaluating new, varied or continued facilities, to avoid environmental harm and unacceptable credit risk.
Westpac has formally adopted the Equator Principles in relation to managing environmental and social risk in project finance activities.
Things you should know
-
To view PDF files you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Use Adobe's online PDF conversion tools to convert to another format.
