Environmental performance

All organisations face challenges as they seek to address climate change, improve operational efficiency and use resources more sustainably. 

It’s everyone’s job to reduce carbon emissions. We’re playing our part as a business while helping our customers transition too. 

We’re continuing to cut emissions in our operations. We have targets to:

• source 100% of our operational electricity from renewables by 2025
• reduce our Scope 1 and 2 market-based greenhouse gas emissions by 72% against a 2022 baseline by 2030.

Our environmental targets

Our environmental performance targets help us progress against our ambition and be accountable for progress in reducing our environmental impact.

In 2023, we updated our operational science-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target to align our ambition to be net zero by 2050 with the best available science and pathway for a 1.5°C warming scenario. Our new target is for a 72% reduction in market-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 from a 2022 baseline and covers:

• all direct GHG emissions (Scope 1 market-based method)
• indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity (Scope 2 market-based method) across all GHGs required in the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.

We continue to make progress towards our environmental operational performance targets in 2024 through a combination of increased sourcing of renewable energy and improvements in energy efficiency.

You can find more information about our environmental performance targets and 2024 environmental performance in our 2024 Climate Report (PDF, 6MB), opens in new window and 2024 Sustainability Data Pack, opens in new window.

Our assurances and certifications

We believe independent assurance and third-party validation of our performance is important. We undertake a range of annual assurance and third-party certification processes, which gives management and stakeholders confidence in the credibility of our approach and the data reported.

Learn more about our assurance process. 

Regulatory reporting

NAB Group is subject to a range of environmental regulation, including reporting requirements. The key regulatory requirements are as follows:

• the Australian National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (Cth) (NGER Act)

• the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting requirements, which are implemented through the Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018 (United Kingdom)

• the UK Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme (ESOS), introduced by the ESOS Regulations 2014.

Further information on these regulatory requirements can be found in our 2024 Annual Report (PDF, 7MB), opens in new window, in the 'Climate Change and Environment’ section. Our 2024 Climate Report (PDF, 6MB), opens in new window also includes further information in the ‘Metrics and Targets’ section.

Assurance of our carbon inventory

In 2024, EY conducted limited assurance over NAB’s:

• Carbon inventory in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Asia and the United States, and the progress we are making against our Scope 1 and 2 (market-based method) Science-based GHG emissions target; and
• Carbon disclosure risk information– (i) renewable energy disclosure; (ii) project finance sector segmentation and (iii) our environmental financing disclosure.

Please refer to NAB’s 2024 Climate Report (PDF, 6MB), opens in new window for these assurance statements.

In 2024, EY conducted reasonable assurance over the component of our Australian carbon inventory that must be reported under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act. Refer to our assurance statement here.

• Download EY’s most recent NGER assurance report (PDF, 156KB), opens in new window

Third party certification for our carbon neutrality

In Australia, we achieved certification under the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Program, opens in new window for the emissions inventory we’re monitoring and reporting for our Australian operations. We achieved our initial certification in December 2010 and re-certify our carbon neutrality annually.

Download our latest annual Climate Active public disclosure summary (PDF, 632KB), opens in new window. See Performance and Reporting for previous disclosures.

Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) became a Toitū net carbonzero certified organisation in October 2022. You can find out more about BNZ’s sustainability performance, opens in new window. 

Calculating carbon emissions, including financed emissions

Our carbon inventory includes greenhouse gas emissions sources from operations in Australia, Asia, New Zealand, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Work on our carbon inventory is ongoing. For some emissions sources, it’s difficult to get access to the activity data needed for accurate greenhouse gas calculations. However, we can provide a picture of the items in our inventory that have been calculated for each of our businesses.

In 2024, our Scope 3 emissions inventory was expanded to include employee commuting for the first time. This takes into account employee commuting emissions from full-time equivalent employees (FTE) (excluding casual employees) commuting to and from key commercial office locations in Australia.

Further information on this can be found in our 2024 Climate Report (PDF, 6MB), opens in new window

NAB’s influence on its employees’ commuting decisions is limited but changing, as hybrid working behaviours and expectations are developed and embedded. NAB offers end-of-trip facilities at many of its locations, though this intervention does not materially influence emissions reduction associated with employee commuting.

BNZ has commenced quantifying and disclosing emissions associated with employee commuting as part of its emissions boundary for Toitū net carbon zero certification. Offsetting requirements under the Toitū programme are for a minimum emissions inventory which does not include employee commuting.

The GHG Protocol Scope 3 ‘Investments’ category includes financed and facilitated emissions, which are outside NAB’s operational reporting boundary and therefore excluded from our organisational footprint. In line with NAB’s requirements as a signatory to the NZBA, NAB reports financed emissions for ten emissions-intensive sectors and certain facilitated emissions for three sectors. For more information on this approach, including NAB’s sector-specific lending portfolio decarbonisation targets, refer to the 2024 Climate Report (PDF, 6MB), opens in new window.

Download our Carbon inventory and exclusions for operational emissions (PDF, 189KB), opens in new window.

Download details about our methodology and emissions factors for Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions (PDF, 449KB), opens in new window.

Our approach to offsetting residual emissions

The Group first avoids and reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with NAB’s operational Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (excluding financed and facilitated emissions) and then retires carbon offsets for residual emissions.

NAB's Australian operations are certified under the Climate Active Standard for Organisations. BNZ  and JBWere NZ are both Toitū net carbonzero organisation certified.

The Group purchases quality accredited carbon offsets to neutralise remaining emissions. NAB maintains a Group Environment Reporting and Offset Management Policy (PDF, 271KB), opens in new window to guide the purchasing and retirement of offsets, which are also disclosed annually in NAB’s Climate Active Public Disclosure Statement (PDF, 713KB), opens in new window and via Climate Active, opens in new window, as part of the certification of NAB’s Australian operations.

In 2024, BNZ has separately purchased offsets through Toitū towards meeting its certification requirements for BNZ operations.

NAB has previously purchased and maintains a bank of Verified Carbon Standard international offsets and ACCUs from Australian sources, with particular focus on Indigenous-led savanna burning projects. NAB intends to continue to prioritise projects that deliver social value and other environmental co-benefits for communities, with a focus on Australia and other jurisdictions where NAB has a significant presence.

Forward purchasing offset model

We use a forward purchasing model to meet our carbon neutral commitment. This type of model calculates forecast carbon emissions for the forthcoming year using the actual carbon emissions reported in the prior year's audited carbon inventory.