NAB and Greener team up to help small businesses cut back carbon emissions
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National Australia Bank (NAB) recently announced a partnership with a portfolio firm Greener, in order to help small business clients cut back their carbon emissions.
Greener is a company founded only last year, in 2022. Backed by NAB Ventures, the firm emerged to assist small businesses in creating step-by-step climate action plans and reduce carbon emissions. They also assist them in cutting costs and becoming more sustainable.
A full roll-out after a successful pilot
Earlier this year, the two companies rolled out a pilot program that saw the participation of 60 small businesses. The program was seemingly a success, which caused the two firms to now open the program to other companies as well.
Ana Marinkovic, NAB’s executive for business direct and small business, stated: “As Australia’s largest business bank, we’re acting to help inform our small business customers of the actions they can take to make a difference.
Marinkovic added that around one in five SMEs have a strong intention to make an investment that would improve their business’ sustainability in the next two years. However, it is also clear that many are not only interested, but quite eager to reduce their emissions at the same time as their business costs.
The partnership will also see NAB promote Greener for Business tool to its small business clients. This will provide guidance for the companies on how to create actin plans that would result in the reduction of energy used, as well as waste that they produce. Meanwhile, businesses would improve electrification, packaging, and logistics emissions.
On top of that, the tool also has some exclusive offers that come from suppliers, which will cut the costs even further, while improving sustainability along the way.
Businesses think that sustainable options are more expensive, but that’s not the case
Tom Ferrier, the founder of Greener, commented that many small businesses in Australia remain unaware of the savings they could potentially make simply by reviewing their emissions and switching to more sustainable suppliers. Ferrier also added that there is a common misconception among small businesses that sustainable options tend to be more expensive.
“That’s why Greener has created a free, super easy platform that helps them save money and reduce emissions at the same time,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Spanish bank Caixa seeks to offer European SMEs a personalized advisory servie that would help them combat challenges such as environmental improvement and decarbonisation. The bank has already trained 150 expert managers to further emphasize on the opportunities that sustainability has to offer as a driving force for these businesses.
