Offsetting emissions from car loans

Case Study

Carbon-offsetting car loans with Bank Australia

Taking responsibility for the environment is a core value of Bank Australia, and the bank attracts customers who share these values. Bank Australia’s customers care about transitioning to a low carbon economy –  so Bank Australia offers car loans where all the carbon emissions have been offset, at no extra cost for customers.

In mid-2017, Point Advisory worked with Bank Australia to redevelop its car loan offsetting strategy. Previously, from 2008-2017, Bank Australia managed carbon offsets through tree planting at their conservation reserve. However, Point Advisory advised the Bank to purchase offsets eligible under the National Carbon Offset Standard, in line with international best practice.

To establish the number of offsets required to be purchased for this 2008-17 period, Point Advisory developed a robust, auditable calculation method for car loan emissions using vehicle data provided in the Australian Bureau of Statistics databases and the National Greenhouse Accounts emission factors. The bank subsequently purchased carbon offsets from Verified Carbon Standard Projects to bring emissions from car loans from 1 January 2008 to 30 June 2017 to zero.

As a result of this work, Bank Australia recently obtained limited assurance over their car loan emissions offsetting actions.

See more about how Bank Australia is creating a positive impact on the planet in its 2017 Corporate Report.

If you require assistance with developing a corporate emissions inventory or a carbon offsets strategy, please contact us.