ANZ Banking Group

The responsibility for sustainability issues within ANZ lies with the highest governing body. The financial institution also identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, the bank has a gender-balanced board of directors where 5 out of 12 members are women. It also has an ESG Supplement report where it describes its approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with clients and investees. Its engagement policy includes a clear framework with success criteria and escalation points in the event that engagement with clients is unsuccessful and it describes how the engagement policy is applied in practice.

ANZ discloses the key companies it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate change, including with regard to alignment with the Paris Agreement, and the rationale for choosing these priorities. The bank also discloses that it aims to finance AUD 50 billion in climate solutions by 2025 and tracks progress against this target. Furthermore, ANZ discloses nature- and biodiversity-related impacts as one of its engagement priorities with companies to which it provides financial services, in addition to disclosing the share of its investments in nature- and biodiversity-related solutions.

ANZ has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and the ILO core labour rights. It also has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. ANZ Banking Group discloses categories of stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. Moreover, the bank has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals and communities to raise human rights complaints or bribery and corruption concerns. Regarding diversity, ANZ Banking Group discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group and gender.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, ANZ has an opportunity to link the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. The bank also has an opportunity to reach at least 40% female representation in senior leadership positions as well as how it takes actions to address any gender pay gaps. Within its engagement report, there is no evidence that ANZ publishes case studies describing where it has engaged unsuccessfully with clients or investees on sustainability themes and impact topics.

There is no evidence that ANZ discloses a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050. Regarding engagement, the bank has an opportunity to disclose how it requires companies to which it provides financial services to have a strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement. It could also align its green loans and investments with internationally recognised frameworks. No evidence was found regarding ANZ’s approach to fossil fuels that spans across the fossil fuel value chain and its financing activities, such as the amount or share of finance it directs towards fuels, or its stance on financing companies with new fossil fuel projects.

ANZ has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, the bank has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards, for example, women-owned businesses, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or low-income developing countries.