Nedbank Group | Environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability

» Managing Nedbank Group's impact

» Carbon neutrality

» Climate change position statement

» Reduction targets

» Carbon footprint measurement

» Staff communication, training, engagement and acknowledgements

» Leading through collaboration

» Facilitating environmental sustainability through products and services

‘As a stakeholder in the future prosperity of the planet, Nedbank Group accepts that it has a responsibility to secure that future through environmental stewardship.’ Mike Brown – Nedbank Group Chief Executive

Nedbank Group remains committed to practising, encouraging and enabling environmental sustainability – a commitment that extends beyond compliance or target-driven environmental practices.

For the group minimising its usage of, and impact on, the planet’s limited natural resources is material to its overall resilience and success as a bank. Equally important is its effectiveness in encouraging others to do the same, whether through working partnerships, business incentivisation, or simply enabling individual environmental action through innovative products and services.

This environmental stewardship commitment is also a key component of the group’s corporate culture and environmental sustainability targets and forms an important part of ongoing performance assessment.

In recent years the group has demonstrated this commitment to environmental sustainability as a material driver through a number of ground-breaking achievements. These include the announcement in 2010 that it had become Africa’s ﬁrst carbon-neutral bank and the implementation in 2011 of a water stewardship programme – the ﬁrst of its kind in the SA banking sector. The group continues proactively to entrench carbon awareness and resource management across its operations, and working with the private and public sector to maximise its positive impact on the environment.

Given the anticipated heightened regulatory requirements concerning carbon emissions and the reduction thereof, Nedbank Group is committed to participating actively in the transformation of SA to a new, green economy, which it aims to achieve by helping to facilitate the transition by SA individuals, communities and businesses to a low-carbon environment.

To this end Nedbank Group’s approach to environmental sustainability is built on three distinct but interconnected components, which are expanded on in the rest of this section.

MANAGING ITS OWN IMPACT

Based on the belief that your own house must be in order before you can truly maximise your inﬂuence, a key environmental sustainability focus for Nedbank Group remains effectively managing and limiting the direct impact it has on the environment. Particular attention is paid to energy
efﬁciency, continued carbon reduction, water stewardship and environmentally responsible lending.

LEADING THROUGH COLLABORATION
Nedbank Group recognises the opportunity and responsibility it has to use its extensive inﬂuence to deliver a positive indirect environmental impact. To achieve this, Nedbank Group works closely with its stakeholders to raise awareness of the role they can play in environmental sustainability and enable them, where possible, to minimise any negative impacts they may have.

FACILITATING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Nedbank Group supports the environmental sustainability efforts of its individual and corporate clients via a selection of environmentally responsible banking and ﬁnancial solutions. In addition, the group is committed to supporting environmental preservation through responsible lending that encourages clients seeking ﬁnance to place sustainable principles at the heart of their operations and projects.

RESPONDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Nedbank Group acknowledges the risks posed by climate change and the interrelatedness of water, food and energy security. In line with group’s philosophy of effectively managing risk and harnessing the opportunities it presents, climate change is approached from the dual perspective of limiting its impact on stakeholders, while unlocking any potential beneﬁts.

The key sustainability risks for Nedbank Group are outlined in the following table, along with a brief overview of the efforts it is making to mitigate these and leverage any opportunities they present:

KEY RISK	IMPACTS	RESPONSES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Energy security	Economic challenges Political uncertainty Resource instability Price increases	The group’s achievement with regard to energy efﬁciency not only means it is tangibly contributing to addressing the country’s energy challenges, but also positions it to offer advice and guidance to other businesses that wish to follow this route. Nedbank Group has provided input into regulatory developments to ensure that the legislation accommodates all stakeholder interests where possible. Nedbank Capital has been allocated 37% of the funding of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) programme allocation.This is aimed at establishing the country’s ﬁrst phase of renewable energy infrastructure development. Nedbank Group offers key advisory and funding services in respect of new green economy activities and is proactively developing a ‘pipeline’ of future projects that will help to address energy security in SA.

Water security	Health risks Reduced crop yields/food shortages Economic stagnation and decline Water restrictions Price increases	Nedbank Group has adopted a comprehensive water stewardship programme aimed at helping to address the three critical issues of water scarcity, water quality and access to water.A signiﬁcant element of this strategy includes ﬁnancing of sustainable water infrastructure development projects across South Africa. Nedbank Group’s investment of R9m into the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Water Balance Programme will help with the removal of alien plant species and deliver 550 000 kl of water per year into two of SA’s primary catchment areas. Nedbank Capital have funded numerous water infrastructure projects throughout SA. The group’s Social and Environmental Management System (SEMS) includes high-level questions focused on identifying water security risks and raising awareness. Through the Green Afﬁnity, Nedbank Group and its clients support a number of Green Trust-ﬁnanced projects aimed at addressing issues of water availability, quality and access.

Food security	Economic decline Health risks Food shortages Price increases Land use change Social unrest	Given the importance of sustainable agriculture to SA’s future, the group is absolutely committed to working closely with all stakeholders in this sector to gain a better understanding of the challenges they face and to develop workable, sustainable solutions. Nedbank Business Banking has a formal agriculture structure that offers ﬁnancial solutions to agricultural clients. Supported by a team of agricultural specialists, Nedbank Group is able to offer customised solutions that not only cater for clients’ speciﬁc ﬁnancial requirements, but also help contribute towards longer- term sustainability. Nedbank Group, through The Green Trust, has supported a number of innovative initiatives to help transform the SA agricultural marketplace while educating and assisting new farmers in sustainable agricultural practices. (See online report for further details.)

In addition to the specific responses and initiatives outlined above, a large percentage of the corporate social investment (CSI) activities undertaken by the Nedbank Foundation are focused on addressing the direct and indirect social and environmental impacts of food, water and energy security. Details of some of these projects are provided in the 'Social sustainability' section of this report.



	Return to top