Commonwealth Bank Sustainability Policy Project: BSBSUS501

This project focuses on developing a comprehensive workplace policy and procedures for sustainability within the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). The project explores the scope of the policy, emphasizing its role in enhancing business performance, promoting transparency, engaging stakeholders, and protecting environmental sustainability. It incorporates key resources such as SWOT analyses of sustainability and human resource management policies, and cost-benefit analyses. The project addresses business ethics, corporate governance, and the implementation of a code of conduct, including a whistle-blower policy. The project also outlines CBA's commitment to environmental and social performance, including human rights, responsible investing, and ESG factors. The implementation plan involves communication strategies, carbon footprint reduction, and the integration of sustainability across various business aspects, including lending practices, energy efficiency, and waste management. The project also details the importance of monitoring, social, and governance aspects, and the modification of policies to ensure continuous improvement and risk management.

Running head: COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA
Name of Student
Name of University
Author’s note

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The workplace policy as well as procedures for the purpose of sustainability
Section 1
Scope: The workplace policy along with procedure for sustainability had been
designed in Commonwealth bank for the purpose of helping their clients to improve the
quality of their business performance, enhance transparency within their business, entangle
with people who had been affected by the projects, protect environmental sustainability as
well as achieve greater impact of development (Noe, Hollenbeck & Gerhart, 2017). The
sustainability framework of the organization aims in articulate the strategic commitment of
the organization towards sustainability development besides this, it is a vital part of the
organization’s approach to the strategy of risk management. This particular framework of
sustainability comprises of the sustainability policy, performance standards on the
environmental as well as social sustainability along with their access to the policy of
information (Leipziger, 2017). The key resources that would be incorporated within the
policies include
Recommendations for policy option
Sustainability policy

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Figure 1: SWOT analysis of Sustainability policy
Human resource management policy
Figure 2: SWOT analysis of Human resource management policy
Cost benefit analysis
Figure 1: cost benefit analysis

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The policies would be implemented within the time frame of 3 months. This would be
effective for the employees as well as the entire organization.
Business ethics as well as sustainability
Commonwealth bank encourages as well as respects the professional behaviour which
tends to encapsulate strong as well as moral values. The ethos of this particular organization
has outlined by the codes of conduct that emphasizes on zero tolerance towards various
practices that are unethical in nature (Cumming, 2017). The cornerstone of a particular code
of conduct has a belief that this specific bank has been a trustee as well as custodian of the
public money and hence for the purpose of fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and
obligations, it would have to maintain as well continue enjoying the trust along with
confidence. With this particular background, implementation of business responsibility policy
and sustainability would also get supplemented by the corporate governance as well as code
of conduct of the bank (Flynn, Gascon & Doyle, 2018). The code of conduct would lay down
principles of various practices of ethical business and hence would prescribe adherence to the
applicable laws as well as regulations as a bare requirement. These would include various
regulations around the protection of environment, health as well as welfare of the complete
workforce along with upholding various rights of the individuals that the bank has been
working with. The banks usually expects every employee to abide by the working culture,
this has to be done by behaving in a professional manner along with integrity as well as in
compliance with the applicable regulations and laws. The laid down clauses of the policy
would be a part of the operating philosophy, it would be supported by a robust governance
mechanism for the purpose of achieving their objectives.
Enforcing code of conduct: In order to enforce code of conduct the bank can
institute a specific vigilance mechanism that would be built on three primary aspects of

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behaviour such as preventive, participative and punitive. It is again complemented by a
properly defined policy of whistle blower. It would allow any employee to convey a certain
concern or a particular complaint anonymously and confidentially. This particular policy
would cover all the employees of organization along with guaranteeing a good response
along with an assurance which there would be no retribution or any negative consequence.
Key resources:-
Framework of Sustainability
Sustainability policy
Social and environmental performance standards
Environmental, safety and health guidelines.
Environmental as well as social review procedures manual
Access to information policy
Corporate governance methodology
Corporate governance development framework
Environmental as well as social categorization
Commitment of the bank
The new as well as updated social as well as governance policies and practices which
supports the efforts of the bank in order to make a particular positive impact with the help of
the method using which it carries out its business (Iavicoli, Leso & Beezhold, 2017). The
policies as well as various practices would be carried out under the group of Commonwealth
group’s corporate responsibility strategy. This group environment policy of the organization
would be updated in order to acknowledge various efforts that are carried out for international

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purpose (Carmeli, Brammer & Gomes, 2017). This is for the purpose of initiating in limited
global warming to the 2 degree Celsius along with the requirement for transition results in
various economic models that are traditional to the low carbon as well as renewable
alternatives. The policy would express the commitment of the bank for supporting the
transition to the low carbon economy that would be planned to review annually (Dumitru, De
Gregorio & Bonnes, 2016). The company must also disclose the emission of carbon that have
been arising from the activities that are carried out from its business lending portfolio. For the
purpose of providing transparency on various indirect impacts of the landings (Leka, Jain &
Lerouge, 2017). The insights as well as the detailed diagnostics behind these, would help in
providing the company with robust quantitative basis for the purpose of identifying as well as
acting on various vital opportunities for improving the carbon performance over a specific
amount of time.
Section 2
Human Rights Position Statement
The bank would also develop a particular Human Rights Position Statement for the
purpose of affirming their responsibilities as well as commitment for respecting human rights
in all of the operations that are guided with the help of United Nations Guiding Principles on
business as well as human rights, this particular statement would describe the way the
organization would integrate various human rights considerations in the organization itself,
this is done with the help of supply chain along with its activities that are investing and
lending in nature (Kassinis, Panayiotou, & Dimou, 2016). New framework for wealth
management responsible investing would be established for the purpose of integrating
various ESG factors through the process of investment within the bank (Cumming, 2017).
The company would embed ESG considerations into the investment decision making as well

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as active ownership practices along with building the overall capacity of the employees to
understand as well as access the ESG risks along with numerous opportunities.
Embedding its approaches: The bank can then work in embedding its approaches to
proper lending in almost all the business lending. Along with the introduction of ESG risk
assessment tool that would be integral to the process of decision regarding lending the
organization can report their progress while using its lending commitments of ESG as well as
can disclose how the Equator principles three can be incorporated to lending decisions
(Buller, Walkosz & Buller, 2018). The employees of the bank would be trained in the
fundamentals of ESG and regarding the ways how ESG risk assessment tools and Equator
Principles three can be implemented, they would also be trained for working with customers
in order to identify as well as mitigate ESG risks.
Communication plan
The policy would be communicated to stakeholders and employees with the help of
meetings and emails. The meeting would be held between the stakeholders first and
Section 3
Reviewing the implementation of policy
The bank can make efforts for the purpose of reducing the footprint of carbon of its
operations along with its own operations along with its financial transactions (Flynn, Gascon
& Doyle, 2018). To this specific end, the bank would work towards the enhancement of
generation of the renewable energy as well as increased offsetting of carbon. It is the
aspiration of the bank to achieve a specific state of neutrality of carbon in the long run.
Commonwealth bank aims in balancing its business along with sustainability performance
and hence identify basic environmental as well as social areas that would be concentrated on
(Diaz‐Carrion, López‐Fernández & Romero‐Fernandez, 2018). These areas include

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Environmental and social areas:-
1. Lending at a specific concessional rates for various renewable energy projects with its
focus on the boosting of investment.
2. Establishing the platforms of digital banking
3. Implementing energy efficiency initiatives and energy conservation
4. Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases
5. Managing generation as well as disposal of waste
6. Reducing the consumption of paper
7. Reducing the consumption of water
8. Adopting various environmental best practices like preparing a robust environmental
management system, installing various mechanisms for the purpose of harvesting
rainwater, setting up numerous solar ATMs all over the area, using LED lights across
the buildings, composting waste and many more.
Monitoring of these sustainability policies would be carried out by keeping a track on
the amount of electricity that would be used within the workplace. The usage electricity
would be reduced by switching off the lights and other electrical appliances when not in
use.
Social as well as governance aspects
Some social as well as governance aspects are as follows
Implementing various banking practices that are ethical in nature.
1. Ensuring compliance
2. Promoting human rights
3. Encouraging the diversity of gender
4. Development of talent and retention

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5. Promoting a healthy balance of work life
6. Constructive engagement with all internal as well as external stakeholders
7. Increasing the access to various services of banking.
8. Enhancing financial literacy
9. Ensuring customer satisfaction
10. Building various communities
11. Establishing strong grievance redressal mechanisms
This particular policy as well as its elements would be applicable to all the domestic or
verticals or business groups of the bank.
Modification of policy and procedures to ensure improvement
Being a large banking institution, risks have been inherently present in most of the
business activities of the bank. The risks could be related to the reputation, services, market
presence, strategic decisions, social and environmental impact and operational activities of
the organization (Batur & Koç, 2017). Commonwealth bank believed that making investment
in sustainable businesses as well as practices could act as a particular robust tool to
cohesively manage the risks. Towards this, the business responsibility policy as well as
sustainability would support the risk management framework of the bank, this would identify
measures for the purpose of mitigating risks that would arise form a particular evolving
economic, social and environmental landscape (Dumitru, De Gregorio & Bonnes, 2016).

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