Climate change and environmental issues
At Westpac Group, we recognise that climate change is one of the most significant issues that will impact the long-term prosperity of the economy and our way of life.
Our approach to climate change.
In 2015, we were the first Australian bank to commit to supporting the Paris Climate Agreement and the need to transition to a net zero emissions economy by 2050.
Some of the ways we’re doing this:
Financing the growth of climate change solutions – where the future is headed
- We’re the largest lender to new renewable energy projects in Australia.
- Renewables now represent over 75% of our lending to the electricity generation sector, up from 59% three years ago.
- Our commitments to climate change solutions increased to $9.3 billion last year.
Supporting businesses as Australia transitions to a low carbon economy – meeting the country’s current energy needs while the economy is shifting to more sustainable energy sources
- Introducing innovative products to incentivise customers to meet agreed environmental targets, such as sustainability-linked loans.
- We have strict criteria about what we will – and won’t – finance. Any lending to new thermal coal mines or projects must be in existing basins and where coal quality ranks in the top 15% globally.
- Only around 1% of our total lending is to mining activities, with lending to coal mining around 0.07%.
Improving the environmental performance of our own operations
- We’ve committed to sourcing 100% of our global electricity consumption through renewable energy sources by 2025.
We value your feedback
We’re proud of the progress we’re making and will be releasing our next Climate Change Position Statement shortly. Updated every three years, we go through an extensive process to ensure we remain informed and consider the expectations of our stakeholders and global best practice.
Should you like to share your feedback, please email us at sustainability@westpac.com.au
Specific policies and positions
The following position statements set out our approach to assessing the environmental, social and governance dimensions of our financing and lending activities. These are supported by policies in Westpac's business and institutional credit manuals:
Climate Change Position Statement and 2020 Action Plan (PDF 888KB)