Climate change is one of the most significant challenges of our time. We must evolve our business operations to respond to the emerging environmental risks. We are also focused on better understanding, and mitigating the environmental risks for our customers that result from our activities as a bank.
Implementing our Climate Action Plan
- We submitted our near-term science-based targets to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) for validation, in line with global standards.
- We achieved Climate Active certification for 2022 for our business operations.
- We removed consumables from the Brisbane office, helping us to decrease our Scope 3 emissions. We reduced the printed copies of our Annual Report in 2022 by 90%.
- We developed new products to incentivise customers to adopt renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.
- We have engaged with landlords and energy providers, allocated budget and developed a transition roadmap to help us achieve our goal of 100% renewable energy for our offices and branches by 2030.
Partnering for impact
- We became a signatory to the Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals’ Declaration of Climate Action.
- We partnered with nDevr Environmental to support the delivery of our climate related commitments.
- We partnered with Tasman Environmental Markets (TEM) to help offset operational emissions and maintain our carbon neutral status.
Case study: Offsetting our emissions and supporting local communities
CREDIT: David Hancock Photography
Great Southern Bank has made a strong commitment to reducing our environmental footprint and responding to the changing climate.
We are well underway in working on strategies to help us reach net zero by 2040 – 10 years ahead of the commitments contained in the Paris Agreement. But in parallel, we are also committed to maintaining our Climate Active certification to be carbon neutral – something we first achieved in 2021.
In FY23, our offsetting program included two key initiatives – Aboriginal traditional fire management in Northern Australia (Arnhem Land Fire Management) and renewable energy projects supporting rural communities in India (Renewable Wind Energy India). Together, these projects offset our operational emissions in FY23.
Importantly, they are also delivering economic and social benefits to local communities, supporting our commitment to financial inclusion, reconciliation and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.