Climate Finance Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Lobbying Overview: National Australia Bank (NAB) displays largely supportive positions on climate-related finance policy, generally supporting regulated corporate climate disclosure and advocating for the development of an Australian sustainable finance taxonomy, although with some qualifications around the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions requirements for certain sectors. The company demonstrates limited engagement with real economy climate policy, yet appears supportive of the transition towards a renewables-based energy mix.
Top-Line Messaging on Climate-Related Finance Policy: NAB displays positive top-line messaging on climate-related financial policy. The company supported action to achieve zero carbon economies in a May 2024 consultation submission, emphasizing that there is a “critical need” for strategies that best support Australia’s transition to net zero emissions by 2050. NAB also advocated for policy makers to increase the ambition of climate-related finance regulation in Australia in a December 2022 joint statement.
Position on Regulated Corporate Climate Disclosure: NAB is broadly supportive of regulated corporate climate disclosure policy in Australia. The company stated that mandatory climate-related disclosures were a “critical element” of Australia’s sustainable finance agenda in an April 2023 newsletter, and broadly supported the Government’s efforts to develop an internationally aligned climate disclosure regime in February 2024 comments on Australia’s climate-related financial disclosure exposure draft legislation.
Position on Taxonomies: NAB supported the development of an Australian taxonomy in a May 2024 consultation submission and reiterated this support in July 2024 comments on Australia’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Public Consultation Paper, although with some qualifications around the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions requirements for minerals.
Position on Real Economy Climate Policy: NAB’s engagement with real economy climate policy appears to be largely confined to advocacy in support of energy efficiency legislation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets. The company advocated for the Australian Government to implement measures to improve the energy efficiency of rental dwellings in an April 2023 joint statement, while NAB Chair Philip Chronican appeared to support the legislation of Australia’s 2030 and 2050 GHG targets in an August 2023 speech. NAB’s positioning on Australia’s 2035 GHG target appears to be less clear, with the company stating support for targets that are “ambitious yet achievable” in a May 2024 consultation submission, while also emphasizing the need for targets to factor in the uncertainty of unproven technologies.
Position on Energy, Industry, and Land Transition: NAB appears to broadly support the transition of the energy mix. The company supported the development of Australia’s sectoral decarbonization plans in a May 2024 consultation submission, and in the same submission, also supported the objectives of Australia’s Capacity Investment Scheme in accelerating new investment in renewable energy. In addition, NAB appeared to support the phase out of coal in the energy mix and its substitution with renewable energy in its 2023 Climate Report, published November 2023.
Industry Association Governance: NAB has published a review of its alignment with its industry associations in its 2023 Climate Report. However, its disclosure is limited to its ‘major associations’, and appears to exclude its membership to the Clean Energy Council and its subsidiary membership to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, both of which display active levels of climate policy engagement. NAB is a member of Business Council of Australia, which has engaged in oppositional advocacy on a number of Australian climate policies in 2022-24.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q4 2024.