Introduction
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-based Great Southern Bank, originally known as Credit Union Australia, is a customer-owned financial institution. The bank is dedicated to assisting Australians in achieving the “Australian Dream” of home ownership(Great Southern Bank). The bank is the largest customer-owned banking organization in the nation. A key player in the Australian economy, the Great Southern Bank of Australia offers a variety of services and goods to its clients. The goal and significance of the Great Southern Bank of Australia, its stakeholders and interests, and the sustainability concern it faces will all be covered in this essay. After that, it will go into the bank’s steps to deal with these problems and its chances of achieving net zero emissions.
Purpose and value at the great southern bank of Australia
Great Southern Bank (previously Credit Union Australia ) is a client-claimed bank in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. This particular bank is a member-owned credit union. Sydney and Melbourne are where the contact centers are located. The bank gives different products, tools, and services to make saving for and buying a home less complex and more open for everybody. It offers banking support, direction, and services, including Visas, contracts, house credits, investment accounts, and home loans. The bank provides individual credits, vehicle advances, and house insurance.
Additionally, it expects to give them and their families long-term monetary security. It strives to give its clients a trustworthy, secure, and safe financial environment while guaranteeing the privacy of their financial information. The bank staff is dependably accessible to address any requests or issues clients might have as a feature of the bank’s obligation to give outstanding client service. The Great Southern Bank of Australia is focused on conveying monetary services and solutions that fit the particular requirements of every one of its clients(Great Southern Bank). To assist clients with settling on better monetary choices, the bank likewise tries to add value to the local area by putting resources into regional small businesses and offering financial education.
Stakeholders And Interests
Sustainable commerce is a business methodology that attempts to balance social, environmental, and economic targets to address the issues of all partners now and later on. It is based on sustainability principles that prioritize people’s and the environment’s welfare (Great Southern Bank,2023). Customers are the Great Southern Bank of Australia’s core stakeholders since their satisfaction and loyalty are essential to the company’s success. Customers anticipate the bank to provide convenient, dependable, and secure banking services catering to their needs. They also anticipate competitive rates, fees from the bank, openness, and moral behavior. Customers also anticipate that the bank will fund environmental and socially responsible sustainability programs (Great Southern Bank,2023). Customers expect, for instance, that the bank will use renewable energy sources, lessen its carbon footprint, and fund environmentally friendly initiatives that will benefit the neighborhood.
The Great Southern Bank of Australia’s employees are also significant stakeholders because they are responsible for the institution’s success. Employees go to the bank for competitive pay, job stability, and advancement prospects. Additionally, they anticipate the bank to uphold moral standards and provide a secure and healthy working environment(Great Southern Bank,2023). Staff members anticipate the bank will fund environmental sustainability projects like cutting energy use and acquiring renewable energy sources. Employees also anticipate the bank to give them the training and assistance they need to complete their jobs effectively and efficiently.
Sustainability problems for The Great Southern Bank of Australia.
The engagement of stakeholders is a critical component of sustainability. To remain relevant and better serve its consumers, a company needs to be able to connect with its external stakeholders. Both customers and employees expect the bank to invest in sustainability initiatives that benefit the environment and society(Great Southern Bank,2022). However, we are all affected by the complicated global problem of climate change, which also presents opportunities and risks for all organizations. Risks to our customers’ and communities’ well-being and economic success, as well as to their balance sheet, are included in this for Great Southern Bank. As the globe heats, it is projected that the frequency and severity of the physical threats associated with climate change, such as floods, bushfires, and storms, will increase. The bank’s greatest asset on the balance sheet, residential mortgages, is now more directly exposed to the physical hazards of climate change(Great Southern Bank,2022).
Additionally, risks associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy include economic and social transition. For Great Southern Bank, these climate-related concerns result in several serious issues; hence it is difficult to create value because of how vicious these sustainability issues are. First, our mortgage portfolio may be subject to long-term effects due to the physical dangers associated with climate change, which are mainly unexpected. The bank must invest in research and modeling to better understand and evaluate the potential risks and establish management plans.
Second, risks associated with the economic and social transition to a low-carbon economy are unpredictable. This calls on them to keep a close eye on regulatory and policy developments, participate in industry-wide debates on climate-related issues, and make sure they are making strategic decisions that are well-informed and supported by the available data for the bank, clients, and the larger community(Great Southern Bank,2022). Ultimately, consumers, communities, and other stakeholders are beginning to demand more involvement and action on sustainability issues from businesses, including banks. In order to accomplish this, the bank must be open and upfront about its strategy and the actions they are taking to address climate-related issues.
Navigating Sustainability Problem
With a commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, planning for the adverse effects of climate change on the physical and financial spheres, and handling investments and lending activities in line with the necessary shift to a net zero emissions economy, Great Southern Bank is already taking a proactive approach to sustainability. The bank has obtained carbon neutral certification and does not actively finance the extraction of fossil fuels or the development of new energy sources (Board charter – great southern bank). The bank used the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework to assist in describing and illustrating its strategy. It has also started quantifying the GHG emissions from its loan and investment portfolio and finished an initial assessment of the physical risks related to its residential mortgage portfolio (Board Charter – great southern bank). To increase resilience to climate change, the bank will continue collecting and analyzing financial data relating to the environment and developing a climate action plan.
To stay ahead of the curve, the bank must continue to develop its sustainability processes in order to not only satisfy present stakeholder and customer expectations but also to foresee and prepare for difficulties that may arise in the future. To do this, the bank should keep investing in developing its team’s competencies to actively monitor and manage physical and transition risks, participate in industry-wide discussions on climate-related issues, and stay current on regulatory and policy initiatives. The bank should keep using the TCFD framework to track and present financial data connected to climate change. In order to optimize its financial and strategic positions, the bank will be sure to make well-informed, evidence-based strategic decisions(Board charter – great southern bank.)
Great Southern Bank is also considering the consumer and commercial prospects brought about by the move to net zero. This involves looking at investments and products that align with the Paris Agreement and would benefit the organization’s customers (Board Charter – great southern bank). Great Southern Bank is showing how it is possible to work around sustainability issues to generate value by addressing the burden of climate change in an ethical and successful way. Furthermore, using the recommendations from the Climate Measurement Standards Initiative and the IPCC’s Representative Concentration Pathways, the bank should track and evaluate the physical risks connected to its residential mortgage portfolio. This will allow the bank to spot any changes in weather patterns that can impact its mortgage portfolio and get ready for them.
Conclusion
As a vital player in the nation’s banking system, the Great Southern Bank of Australia is dedicated to the sustainability of its operations and assisting Australians in realizing the “Australian Dream.” The bank has made several efforts to lessen its environmental impact and is close to attaining its objective of net zero emissions. To secure a sustainable future for our world, other financial institutions must adopt the Great Southern Bank of Australia’s strategy.
References
Great Southern Bank | personal banking, home loans & credit cards. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.greatsouthernbank.com.au/
Great Southern Bank. (2022, October 13). Environmental sustainability. Great Southern Bank. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.greatsouthernbank.com.au/about/sustainability/environment
Great Southern Bank. (2023, April 13). Our board and way of working. Great Southern Bank. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.greatsouthernbank.com.au/about/corporate-governance/board-and-way-of-working
Board charter – great southern bank. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.greatsouthernbank.com.au/about/corporate-governance/board-charter
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