As part of NAB’s goal of aligning its lending portfolio to net-zero emissions by 2050, today NAB joined the UN-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).
As the only Australian bank to have signed the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Collective Commitment to Climate Action (CCCA) in 2019, by joining the associated NZBA, NAB further demonstrates its commitment to transitioning and aligning its lending portfolios with the most ambitious targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement.
By being part of this Alliance, NAB will continue to accelerate and support the implementation of decarbonisation strategies to ensure Australia, our customers, and our own business, reaches net-zero emissions by 2050.
NAB CEO Ross McEwan said we all have a part to play and NAB certainly recognises our role.
“NAB has a strong history of leading on climate action and we have been at the forefront of the development of sustainable and social bonds, ESG-linked derivatives, sustainability-linked loans and asset-backed securities,” Mr McEwan said.
“We are providing transparency around the decisions and actions we are taking to support our customers and communities as they make the transition to net-zero emissions by 2050. Our policy is informed by science.
“We see significant opportunity for the bank to work with and support customers to decarbonise, while also building resilience to the worst impacts of climate change.”
As a priority, NAB is:
- working with 100 of our largest greenhouse-gas emitting customers to develop or improve their low carbon transition plans by 2023;
- the only Australian major bank to have set a cap on its oil and gas exposure and put in place restrictions on lending to greenfield oil and gas extraction;
- one of the first banks in the world with a goal to reduce oil and gas exposure aligned to the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero Emission 2050 scenario; and
- targeting to halve its thermal mining exposure by 2026 and to be effectively zero by 2030, apart from residual performance guarantees to rehabilitate existing thermal coal mining assets.
NAB is the leading Australian bank for global renewables transactions and was the 23rd largest lender to the renewable energy industry in the world in the last financial year[1] . Renewables represent more than 71 per cent of NAB’s total lending to energy generation. Since 2003, NAB has completed more than 150 renewable financing transactions and lent over $11.5 billion.
Consistent with the requirements of the NZBA, in its 2022 annual reporting, NAB will publish 2030 decarbonisation targets for eight key sectors of its Australian lending portfolio.
To read more about NAB’s approach to managing climate change read page 29-36 of NAB’s 2021 Annual Review here
About the Alliance:
The industry-led, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance brings together nearly 100 banks representing almost half of global banking assets, which are committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. Combining near-term action with accountability, this ambitious commitment sees banks setting an intermediate target for 2030 or sooner, using robust, science-based guidelines. The Alliance will reinforce, accelerate and support the implementation of decarbonisation strategies, providing an internationally coherent framework and guidelines in which to operate, supported by peer-learning from pioneering banks. It recognises the vital role of banks in supporting the global transition of the real economy to net-zero emissions. www.unepfi.org/net-zero-banking
[1] Rankings based on IJGlobal League Table, MLA, Renewables, 12 months ending 31 September 2021
