Climate Action

Feel good about a bank that lends zero dollars to the fossil fuel industry.1

Climate Action

We want the next generation to live in a better world. So we invest in social and environmental programs that help create positive change now for a better tomorrow. We believe profits should help create A Brighter Future.

  • Overview

    We want the next generation to live in a better world. So we invest in social and environmental programs that help create positive change now for a better tomorrow. We believe profits should help create A Brighter Future.

    Climate change is of urgent global concern. Young people have called on us to act, and banks can play a major role.

    The environmental damage that banks cause is largely a result of their investment and lending actions. So, who you bank with can make a real difference to the planet.

    We also take action with our own carbon footprint. The bank is net zero for all its direct greenhouse emissions (electricity and fuel use).

    We don’t take money from the fossil fuel industry,1 and we don’t lend them your money either.

    As a member, you can feel good that your money is helping to protect the environment, simply by banking with us.

    What we do

    • We invest your money responsibly and ethically under strict rules.
    • We take action on climate change and don’t take money from, or lend to, the fossil fuel industry.
    • Joining our bank means you can do align your money with your values – at no extra cost.
    • Every mortgage and deposit account we sell is independently certified as a Responsible Investment at no extra cost

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  • Climate change

    Climate change

    Tackling one of the world’s biggest challenges: climate change.

    The environmental damage attributable to banks comes largely from the negative impacts of their lending and investments, rather than their direct footprint.

    Our policy is;
    • Teachers Mutual Bank has zero direct investment in any large-scale greenhouse polluting activity or company.
    • Teachers Mutual Bank does not use members’ funds to finance large-scale greenhouse-gas pollution.
    • Teachers Mutual Bank does not use members’ deposits to directly lend to, buy equity or debt in, any large-scale greenhouse polluting activities from fossil fuel exploration, extraction, production and use.

    Climate change is addressed more broadly across the Bank in our Sustainability Policy and other policies, in such areas as risk, reporting and disclosure, waste, supply chain and sourcing, car fleet, environmental education and grants, energy efficiency.

  • Greening our business

    Greening our business

    Investing in an electric future

    We purchased an electric car for our HQ fleet use. This ‘game-changing vehicle’ is a Long Range Holden Volt electric car; free of the normal range anxiety, having two power sources and a total driving range of 600km. “We just plug the car in and charge it like a mobile phone. A typical 60km a day commute means that the purchase of petrol is generally unnecessary,” said Steve James, CEO.

    ”We continually manage our environmental footprint, and utilising this innovative technology is another way of putting our sustainability money where our mouth is."
    Steve James, CEO Teachers Mutual Bank

    As the HQ fleet vehicle, the Teachers Mutual Bank car will be used throughout urban and suburban Sydney. Because it’s state-of- the-art, with no outward signs that it’s battery electric, we added the livery ‘This car is electric’ on the rear to spread the message that it’s a touch-point of sustainability in action.

    “The Teachers Mutual Bank electric car will be visible to thousands of people as our staff drive it between our offices and to schools around greater Sydney, and our aim is to send a positive message about practical environmental solutions.”

    The Volt is not a hybrid, it is a battery electric car with an on-board generator, and is designed to spend most of its life being propelled by battery power alone, powered by General Motors’ revolutionary electric propulsion system with a 16.5kWh lithium ion battery that provides an electric charge of 87km.

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