Bank of Queensland : BOQ powers ahead with sustainable sourcing

Thursday 28 July 2022

Bank of Queensland Group (BOQ) continues to act on climate change and is on track to nearly triple its use of renewable power following new electricity purchase agreements put in place across its operations. 

The new agreements will mean its offices in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne will be fully powered through sustainable green power. Sites where BOQ can choose its energy supplier will also fall under the new deal. 

With these agreements, the bank is on track to meet its commitment to source 100% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2025.

BOQ Group Head of Sustainability Stuart Dix said the new energy deals will see BOQ cut its yearly carbon emissions by around 2,500 tonnes - the equivalent of taking around 1200 cars off the road.   

"Building upon our success in becoming carbon neutral certified our renewable energy agreements will give us the flexibility to scale up so that we can meet our longer-term decarbonisation goals," Mr Dix said. 

"We have strong partnerships with the local communities we serve and, in the years ahead our priority will be to work with commercial property partners to transition the remaining portions of our network to renewable power.

"Across our operations we are introducing new initiatives, such as electric and hybrid vehicles into our fleet, to make our business cleaner and greener." 

BOQ Group's Head of Everyday Banking Melissa Graul said the move to renewable electricity comes following a wider sustainability push by the lender, which became one of the first Australian banks to issue debit cards made from recycled materials in 2021.  

"Plastic is one of the biggest pollutants to our environment. By making our new cards using recycled materials we can prevent unnecessary waste from going to landfill," Ms Graul said. 

"There have been more than 300,000 cards made from recycled materials issued since August 2021, which has given a second use for almost two tonnes of plastic."

"Additionally, by changing the default frequency for issuing paper statements, we have saved over two million sheets of paper. Customers also now have the option to go paperless and completely opt-out of receiving paper statements as they can be sent via email."  

To read more about BOQ Group's sustainability actions visit: https://www.boq.com.au/Shareholder-centre/sustainability