United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Role of business

Businesses need to respect human rights and have the opportunity to proactively address constraints faced by marginalised groups.

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Availability of products and services for those on low incomes
• Earnings, wages and benefits
• Economic development in areas of high priority

Our contributions so far:

• Reduced or removed 11 of our fees.
• Human Rights Position Statement and 2020 Action Plan.
• Partnering with the Middlemore Foundation to pilot an innovative programme, Mana-ā-Riki, in Papakura to help children and young people reach their potential by providing digital learning, health services in schools and making homes safe and warm.  

Role of business

Businesses have a role in mainstreaming gender equality in its operations and more broadly.

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Equal remuneration for women and men
• Diversity and equal opportunity
• Workplace violence and harassment
• Women in leadership

Our contributions so far:

• Increased women in leadership to 52.4% across the organisation.
• Promoted women's success through the national Women of Influence Awards.
• In collaboration with Shine, developed an anti-domestic violence policy to help ensure our employees are safe from domestic violence.
• Rolled out Unconscious Bias training for all employees. 
• Westpac Women in Tech ran a #TechGirl! Event at Westpac's head office for 100 school girls with an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math so they could learn about what it means to be a woman working in tech.

Role of business

Business can accelerate the transition to an affordable, reliable and sustainable energy system by investing in renewable energy resources, prioritizing energy efficient practices, and adopting clean energy technologies and infrastructure.

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Renewable energy
• Energy efficiency
• Infrastructure investments
• Environmental investments
• CleanTech investments

Our contributions so far:

• Rolled out Skype for Business thereby reducing the demand for employee travel
• Increased lending to the CleanTech sector to $1.3 billion.
• Supporting CleanTech start-ups by sponsoring Lightning Lab Electric, NZ's first energy sector accelerator programme.

Role of business

Businesses are engines for job creation and economic growth and foster economic activity through their value chain.  Businesses have responsibility to uphold labour standards, institute non-discriminatory practices and embrace diversity and inclusion.

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Employment
• Economic inclusion
• Non-discrimination
• Capacity Building
• Availability of a skilled workforce

Our contributions so far:

• Investing in our people through the Best Banker Accreditation programme.  The programme offers two courses – the New Zealand Certificate in Financial Services (Level 4) and the New Zealand Certificate in Financial Services (Level 5), both in conjunction with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Role of business

Businesses are engines for economic growth, having the potential to create jobs, foster economic activity through their value chain and contribute tax revenues for public services and infrastructure. They can also use their influence to address inequality by third parties such as suppliers.

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Availability of products and services for those on low incomes
• Access to financial services
• Equal remuneration for women and men
• Capacity building
• Diversity and equal opportunity
• Economic inclusion

Our contributions so far:

• Human Rights position statement in te reo Māori.
• Developed a Sustainable Supplier Code setting out our expectation that suppliers act sustainably.
• Providing paid work experience for Te Waiu O Aotearoa Trust scholarship winners and offering a  Māori cadetship programme.

Role of business

Business can play a vital role in providing specific infrastructure, technology, services and financing solutions, to create inclusive, safe, sustainable and disaster resilient cities. 

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Access to affordable housing
• Infrastructure investments
• Sustainable transportation
• Access to public spaces
• Sustainable buildings

Our contributions so far:

• Supported the growth of NZ’s largest community housing provider, Accessible Properties, as finance partner on their successful bid for more than 1,150 social houses in Tauranga.
• Increased lending to the CleanTech sector to $1.3 billion.

Role of business

Societies need to find just and equitable ways to meet individual needs and aspirations within the ecological limits of the planet. 

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Sustainable sourcing
• Resource efficiency of products and services
• Materials recycling
• Procurement practices
• Product and service information and labelling

Our contributions so far:

• Developed a Sustainable Supplier Code setting out our expectation that suppliers act sustainably.
• Customers are turning off their paper statements and choosing to view their statements online with Westpac One; thereby minimising their environmental impact by reducing paper use.  75% of transactional accounts have had their paper statements turned off.
• Recycling and composting what we can which has reduced what we send to landfill.
• Partnered with ATEED (Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development) and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, to bring together central and local government, corporates, Māori and iwi to consider the opportunities that may be present to achieve inclusion and diversity in our supply chains. 
• Westpac's head office onsite cafes and catering serve fair-trade and organic coffee, use fully compostable coffee cups and takeaway containers and use locally sourced produce and free-range and free-farmed meats.

Role of business

Businesses can contribute by decarbonising their operations and supply chains through improving energy efficiency, reducing the carbon footprint of their products, services and processes, setting ambitious emissions reductions targets and scaling up investment in the development of innovative low-carbon products and services.

Business themes relevant to Westpac:

• Energy efficiency
• Environmental investments
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Risks and opportunities due to climate change

Our contributions so far:

• Increased lending to the CleanTech sector to  $1.3 billion.
• Decreased lending to fossil fuels by $381 million since 2012.
• Committed to 30% of our fleet being electric vehicles by 2019.
• Climate leadership - writing thought-leadership pieces in major newspapers and speaking at the Climate Change and Business Conference.
• Where possible we are digital with our processes.  Through careful management we have decreased our electricity use and emissions.  The latter was down by 21% this year.
• Recycling and composting what we can which has reduced what we send to landfill.
• Maintained our carbon neutral status in 2017 by offsetting the impact of our remaining emissions.  We did this by voluntarily purchasing and retiring NZU compliance-grade carbon credits.