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Environment

We aim to achieve long term sustainable growth.Understanding the impact we have on the environment, and the risks and opportunities that this presents, is central to achieving this goal.

We work hard to improve the way we manage our environmental risks. This is important, not only because it reduces our reputational and regulatory risk and allows us to use resources more efficiently, but also because it is part of our broader responsibility to future generations. We manage both the direct impacts we have as a business through our operations (for example, running our offices, employees' travel and the production of materials related to our work) and also the indirect impact we have through our investment decisions, communications and products. We also recognise that there are opportunities across the Group to take proactive action on the environment, such as reducing costs through efficiencies, using environmental positioning to win new customers, or developing new products to meet customer demand. Across the Group in 2009 we shared environmental best practice in terms of both risks and opportunities.

As part of our broader role in helping to tackle the challenges that climate change presents, we continued to support the UN's work in this area and signed the Copenhagen Communiqué as part of the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009. We also committed funding for a research project at Imperial College London, looking into the effect of climate change on biodiversity.

During 2009 we made progress towards our environmental policy commitments. However, we recognise that there is still much to be done. Our goals for 2010 are based on reducing the direct impact of our operations, managing the impact of our investment decisions, and engaging our employees in our environmental effort.

1. + Includes Legacy
2. * Waste figures decreased across all business units in 2009. The increase in total is due to the inclusion of Old Mutual South Africa data for the first time.

So what did we do to meet our environmental commitments in 2009?

Minimising the direct impact of our operations

Our biggest direct sources of carbon emissions are our offices and travel. As part of our continued commitment to developing a better understanding of our own environmental impact, and in particular our carbon footprint, we completed our second public submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2009. This saw us included in the CDP's Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for the first time, ranking in the top 10% of the FTSE350 companies that responded. In our submission we made a commitment to reduce our overall carbon emissions by 2% during 2009, and we have met this target. As part of this commitment each business unit has developed, or started to develop, carbon reduction initiatives.

In addition to our Group submission, Nedbank also made its own CDP submission. It was recognised as the overall winner in the South African Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2009 Leadership Index. Nedbank followed this achievement by making a commitment to carbon neutrality, making it the first South African bank and the first listed company in South Africa to do so.

In 2010 we plan to finalise carbon reduction strategies across the Group, monitor our reduction targets and submit our third public Group CDP submission.

Managing our indirect impact through our investment decisions, communications, and products

In 2008 we developed our first Group Investment Statement. Following on from this, in 2009 we worked with different parts of the business, including the Group Executive Committee, to establish how we can refine the statement to reflect the structure and priorities of the Group for 2009 and beyond. In 2010 we will continue to review the Group Investment Statement and investment statements from the business units across the Group.

As part of Nedbank Group's commitment to managing the indirect impact of its investment decisions it continued to apply the Equator Principles to project finance initiatives. These provide an enhanced risk management framework to assess projects' possible environmental and social impacts. Using the Equator Principles has significantly increased our awareness, knowledge and experience in managing environmental and social risk for all transactions.

We also help manage our indirect environmental impacts through the products we offer to our customers and by developing communication methods that are specifically designed to minimise impact on the environment. For example, during 2009 Nedbank ran a series of outdoor, radio and print advertisements designed to increase takeup of our range of Green Affinity banking, investment and insurance products, encouraging customers to choose products designed to benefit the environment.

Engaging our employees

Engaging our employees in our environmental efforts has been an important part of delivering change across the Group in 2009. Throughout the year and across the Group we have continued to promote the 'three Rs' - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Much of this work has been conducted at individual business unit level. However, we also worked to share best practice across the Group through meetings, workshops, and our Group ezine, In Touch. As well as promoting behaviour change at work, we have also run programmes throughout the Group to help employees take action at home.