Our commitments and partnerships
Through global and regional commitments and partnerships we collaborate with other leaders to create positive change.
Australian Business Roundtable for Natural Disasters and Safer Communities
In December 2012, Westpac and five other Australian organisations formed the Australian Business Roundtable for Natural Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities to advocate greater collaboration between all levels of government, business and community organisations to make Australian communities more resilient to natural disasters.
Business Coalition Statement on Climate Change
In 2015, Westpac signed the Business Coalition Statement on Climate which highlights our support for Australia's bipartisan commitment to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, alongside other nations within an international agreement.
Climate Action 100+
In 2018, BT signed on to Climate Action 100+, a global investor initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.
Montreal Carbon Pledge
In September 2014, our wealth management business signed the Montreal Carbon Pledge, which commits investors to measure and publicly disclose the carbon footprint of their investment portfolios on an annual basis. It is supported by the Principles for Responsible Investment and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.
Paris Agreement
We were the first Australian bank to commit to the goals of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Since then, we have released our Climate Change Position Statement and Action Plan that outlines the next phase of actions we are taking to meet our commitment to the Paris Agreement.
RE100
As one of the first Australian companies to make this commitment, we became a member of RE100, a global leadership initiative led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, bringing together the world’s most influential businesses who have committed to go 100% renewable.
Soft Commodities Compact (Banking Environment Initiative)
In 2014, Westpac signed the Banking Environment Initiative's Soft Commodities Compact, which commits us to do our part to help achieve zero net deforestation by 2020.
The Equator Principles
In 2003, Westpac was one of 10 founding signatories globally to the Equator Principles, a risk management framework adopted by financial institutions for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in projects. We apply the Equator Principles to:
- all project finance transactions where capital costs exceed US$10m
- project-Related Corporate Loans and bridge loans
- project-Related Refinance or Project-Related Acquisition Finance
To meet our commitments we apply a detailed process of assessment against the Equator Principles requirements and implications of each project, and the Head of Project Finance (or a senior delegate) is required to sign off on the assessment of each project finance transaction against the Principles.
View our annual reporting against the Equator Principles in our Performance Reports
The New York Declaration on Forests
In 2014, Westpac was a founding signatory to the New York Declaration on Forests as agreed at UN Secretary-General's 2014 Climate Summit. This commits us, collectively with a range of other companies, Governments and civil society organisations across the world, to do our part to halt deforestation.
UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative
In 1992, Westpac was a founding signatory to the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative. This is a global partnership between UNEP and over 200 institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers, working together to understand the impacts of environment and social considerations on financial performance.
UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative - Principles for Responsible Banking
In May 2018, Westpac joined 25 other leading banks from five continents to develop shared principles, aligning the purpose of banking with delivering against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative - Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge
In 2018, Westpac, Westpac New Zealand and BT signed the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge.
UN Global Compact
In 2002, Westpac was a founding signatory to the UN Global Compact, an initiative to align signatories' strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals. In 2016, through its participation in the UN Global Compact, Westpac signed a statement of support for the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of goals which lay out an ambitious path to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet over the next 15 years.
Visit the UN Global Compact website
View our Statement of Support for the Sustainable Development Goals
View our UN Global Compact Communication of Progress reports in Performance Reports
UN Principles for Responsible Investment
In 2007, our wealth management business became a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, which commit institutional investors to incorporate environmental, social and governance considerations into investment analysis, decision making and ownership priorities.
Visit the UNPRI website, which contains our reporting against the principles
We Mean Business Coalition
In 2015, Westpac signed a number of climate and environmental leadership initiatives as part of the We Mean Business Coalition (formerly CDP Road to Paris program), a platform for companies to be actively engaged in global climate change policy developments.