Sustainability
Climate and environment
Own operational footprint
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Own operational footprint

Our ambition is to be net zero for our operational value chain⁽¹⁾ by 2050. During 2023, we focussed on activities with the potential to contribute towards our ambition to reduce our own operations by 50% by 2025, against a 2019 baseline in addition to progressing against our SBTi⁽³⁾ validated 2030 targets. As a result, we achieved a 54% reduction against a 2019 baseline in our Scope 1 and Scope 2 location-based emissions, and a 26% reduction in scope 3 emissions⁽³⁾. We will continue to pursue further decarbonisation towards our 2050 net zero ambition to reference the continued direction of travel and build on the initial iteration of our Climate transition plan.

Our direct own operations emissions⁽⁵⁾ are 131,100 tCO2e and have reduced by 47%, compared with the 2019 baseline, supporting delivery of our 2025 and 2030 ambitions.

Supporting delivery of our RE100 commitment, our 2023 direct own operations market-based emissions of 79,417 tCO2e include emission reductions from the use of green electricity covering 100% of our consumption, but in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol it does not include emissions reduction from the use of carbon credits.

_{(1) Our operational value chain captures greenhouse gas emissions Scopes 1, 2 and 3 (Categories 1-14, excluding Categories 8, 10, 14). Refer to section 5.2 and 5.3 of our 2023 Climate-related Disclosures Report for detail of Scope 3 Category 15 (financed emissions).}

_{(2) For our own operations, net zero means aiming to reduce these operational value chain emissions by a minimum 90% reduction by 2050 against a 2019 baseline. We plan to neutralise the residual 10% using carbon credits in line with ‘SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard’ released in October 2021.}

_{(3) The SBTi recommends that companies invest to mitigate emissions beyond their value chain while they transition towards a state of net-zero emissions. In accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, our absolute emission reductions of 50% Scope 1+2, 50% Scope 3 and 90% by 2050 are not achieved through the use of carbon credits.}

_{(4) The project is assured under the VCS and Triple Gold certified to the CCBA to invest beyond our value chain, and generates carbon removal credits from increased sequestration of carbon in the soil through sustainable grazing patterns in partnership with communities in grassland areas. The project measures impact, estimates ecological leakage and assesses risk. The project adheres to VCS Standard 4.3, Section 3.18 Safeguards requirements and methodology VM0032.}

_{(5) NatWest Group defines direct own operations as our Scope 1, Scope 2 location-based and Scope 3 (paper, water, waste, business travel, commuting and work from home) emissions, therefore excluding the upstream and downstream emissions from our value chain. We have reduced these total direct own operations emissions by 47%, with the scope 1 and scope 2 location-based contribution reducing by 54% compared with the 2019 baseline.}

Own operations reporting boundary and scope

Our emissions reporting boundary is defined as all entities and facilities either owned or under our operational control. Our own operational emissions reporting year runs from the 1 October 2022 to the 30 September 2023. NatWest Group defines direct own operations as our Scope 1, Scope 2 location-based and Scope 3 (paper, water, waste, business travel, commuting and work from home) emissions. It therefore excludes upstream and downstream emissions from our value chain. Our operational value chain captures greenhouse gas emissions Scopes 1, 2 and 3 (Categories 1-14, excluding Categories 8, 10, 14). Scope 3 category 15 (financed emissions) is discussed in section 5.2 and 5.3 of our 2023 Climate-Related Disclosures Report. NatWest Group uses the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to measure emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, with the latter split into 15 categories. For a breakdown of these categories within our reporting scope, as well as a description of upstream reporting limitations, see page 67 of our 2021 Climate-Related Disclosures Report and downstream reporting limitation on page 73 of our 2022 Climate-Related Disclosures Report.

2023 Achievements (PDF, 67KB)

2023 environmental footprint performance (PDF, 102KB)

Sustainable Resource Use

Energy

Energy saving: Between 2022 and 2023 we reduced our energy consumption by 38 GWh, driven by portfolio transformation completed during the reporting year and projects including those detailed below:

Building Management System (BMS) software: Installed in all our large and medium office buildings to optimise the control of our energy-using systems such as heating, cooling and air handling.

Data centres: Building management initiatives have been delivered across the four strategic UK data centres’ including the installation of energy efficient chillers to cool the data centres’ halls and optimisation of the temperatures. In addition, a multi-year upgrade programme to our Edinburgh data centre network has completed end-of-life hardware decommissioning.

LED lighting: As part of a multi-year LED investment programme, we upgraded 65 of our branches in 2023. The aim is to roll out across a further 200 of our branches, delivering c.8GWh reduction in electricity use. Installation of low-energy LED lighting in our data centres has provided savings and we also made progress in overseas offices with an LED lighting exchange saving 10% energy at our Poland office compared with the same period last year.

Supply chain

In 2023, we began our supplier data improvement journey for our emissions estimates, transitioning from a fully spend-based approach to a hybrid approach. This uses supplier-specific data, where it is available, for our top 80% of spend, topping-up with spend-based data where more accurate disclosed data is not available. This means that our 2023 supplier footprint is now 18% supplier-specific data. As a result, our Category 1, 2 and 4 emissions for 2019 have been re-baselined in line with recommended best practice as the changes exceeded our 5% materiality threshold, driving a reduction in 2019 emissions from those reported historically.

Waste

We have reduced waste by 41% since 2019. For customers using our cash operations, plastic usage is tracked, highlighting opportunities to switch to more sustainable alternatives. Paper consumption has decreased by 71% from our 2015 baseline, with a reduction of 3.9 million envelopes and 56 million sheets of paper being sent to our customers. Our catering supplier plays a key role in reducing single use plastic on our sites and the successful transition to reusable alternatives for catering at our Thanet Grange and new Manchester Spinningfields offices provides the model for roll-out to other sites.

Design

Our new flagship building for sustainability

Building on our momentum from previous years emission reduction activities and to continue progress towards our 2025 ambitions, we continued to focus on our culture, education and learnings as well as the use of technology and innovation to get our house in order. In 2023, we made further progress on our sustainable building designs, opening our new office in Spinningfields. This newly refurbished building placed sustainable design at the heart of the fit out, providing a new space for our Manchester colleagues. Air-source heat pumps and an all-electric kitchen were installed removing all gas operations to decarbonise the building, the application of solar film reduces the need for additional mechanical cooling, LED lighting has been installed throughout and electric vehicle charging points were installed for cars and bikes helping us progress towards our 2025 ambitions of 50% emissions reduction from direct own operations and the installation of EV chargers in 15% of large office spaces across our portfolio. A roof terrace was planted with native pollinating flowers promoting biodiversity and has been added to a series of ‘insect pathways’ throughout the UK. Spinningfields has been awarded the RICS SKA gold accreditation, achieving the highest level of sustainable fit out using the rating method, with an EPC improvement of a D to a B. Incorporating technology and innovation into the design has enabled Spinningfields to be our new flagship building for sustainability.

With a continued focus on delivering sustainable, quality assured fit-outs across all our buildings we have furthered our progress by achieving two gold and one silver Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) SKA accreditations in office fit outs, in addition to one gold and one silver in branch refurbishments. This was supported by embedding the re-use first strategy, helping us to achieve our 2025 ambitions of 50% emissions reduction from direct own operations and maintaining zero waste to landfill in UK & Republic of Ireland, as it looks to reuse as much furniture, signage and fit-out components as possible. In 2023 our strategy led to 69,000 assets being re-used and 2.3 tonnes of waste avoided from landfill. Further, through innovative and sustainable design we have improved the EPC ratings of a number of buildings including our Preston hub, a Grade II Listed heritage building, from an EPC rating of E to B.

Climate group initiatives

RE100: In 2023 we increased our consumption of renewable electricity to 100% across our global operations, achieving our RE100 commitment a year in advance. We accomplished this through green tariffs and purchasing Renewable Electricity Certificates (RECs) for our landlord-supplied properties, where we are unable to specify a requirement for renewable electricity. In January 2024, NatWest Group’s first corporate power purchase agreement (cPPA) will start. The Porth Wen solar farm in Anglesey, North Wales, will provide the grid with an anticipated 68 GWh of low-carbon electricity annually. A roof-top solar PV array at Coutts office at 440 Strand, London will also be completed in 2024 and will generate over 140,000 kWh annually.

EP100: Energy productivity has improved by 84% since 2015 due to the implementation of innovative energy practices throughout our buildings, which has reduced energy consumption. This has resulted in an improvement in energy intensity on a FTE/GWh basis

EV100: As part of our ongoing EV100 commitments, we installed electric vehicle charging points in 13% of our large office car park spaces across our UK portfolio and converted 33% of our owned and operated fleet to electric vehicles. Outside our commitments, build commenced in 2023 for two electric mobile banks, with charging infrastructure in place to test long-term effectiveness of the vehicles on selected routes in Q1 2024. We also expanded our focus to overseas offices, with EV chargers available to staff at two of our large India offices to help support electrification of our taxi fleet.

Other initiatives

Carbon credits: In 2023, we retired 120,000 nature-based carbon removal credits. The project is assured under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Triple Gold certified to the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance Standards (CCBA) to invest beyond our value chain. The project generates carbon removal credits from increased sequestration of carbon in the soil through sustainable grazing patterns in partnership with communities in grassland areas. The project measures impact using the Tool for the Demonstration and Assessment of Additionality in VCS’s Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use project activities, estimates project ecological leakage and assesses risk using monitoring and compensation.

Our Carbon Reduction Plan

We have published our Carbon Reduction Plan (PDF 242KB) in response to Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21 of the UK Government (Taking Account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts). Within this Carbon Reduction Plan, we cover our Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint relating to our Own Operations activities within the UK, including our offshore operations. The Scope 3 values presented here differ from those in our streamlined energy and carbon report due to the Scope 3 categories requested by the UK Government. Our direct own operations Scope 3 includes paper, water, waste, business travel, commuting and working from home; our upstream operational value chain Scope 3 includes suppliers, transportation and distribution, energy and fuel related activities not included in Scope 1 and 2; our Carbon Reduction Plan Scope 3 includes waste, business travel, commuting, upstream transportation and distribution, and downstream transportation and distribution.

Important information

Caution about climate metrics and data required for climate-related reporting.

Climate metrics, whether historical or forward-looking are more inherently uncertain and, therefore, less reliable than metrics based on historical financial statements and forward-looking climate metrics and more uncertain and less reliable than historical metrics due to their forward-looking nature and assumptions about future matters that are not certain. There are many significant uncertainties, assumptions and judgements underlying climate metrics that limit the extent to which climate metrics are reliable. For more information on cautions about climate metrics and data required for climate reporting please refer to Section 7.1 (‘Caution about climate metrics and data required for climate reporting’) of our 2023 Climate-Related Disclosures Report.

Caution about forward-looking statements.

Certain parts of our own operational footprint webpage contains climate-related and other forward-looking statements and metrics, such as aims, ambitions, climate scenarios, estimates, forecasts, emissions intensity pathways, plans, projections and targets. There are many significant uncertainties, assumptions, judgements, opinions, estimates, forecasts and statements made of future expectations underlying these forward-looking statements which could cause actual results, performance, outcomes or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking such statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. The most important of these uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements are summarised in (i) the ‘Risk Factors’ included on pages 420 to 444 of our 2023 Annual Report and Accounts (with special regard to the risk factors in relation to ‘Climate and sustainability-related risks’ that describe several particular uncertainties, climate and sustainability-related risks to which NatWest Group is exposed and which may be amended from time to time); and Section 7.2 (‘Climate-related and other forward-looking statements and metrics’) of our 2023 Climate-Related Disclosures Report.

Caution about references to websites.

Reference to websites and other reports is made for information purposes only. To the extent permitted by law, NatWest Group makes no representation, warranty or assurance of any kind, express or implied, or takes no responsibility or liability as to the fairness, accuracy, reliability, reasonableness, correctness or completeness with respect to (i) the third-party information found at any websites operated by third parties; or (ii) the information provided in any case studies.

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Own operational footprint

Own operations reporting boundary and scope

Sustainable Resource Use

Energy

Supply chain

Waste

Design

Climate group initiatives

Other initiatives

Our Carbon Reduction Plan

Important information

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Nature and climate change

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