CBA Background Information:The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (abbreviated CBA or CommBank) is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment and broking services. The Commonwealth Bank is the largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange as of August 2015 with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments, ASB Bank (New Zealand), Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure). Commonwealth Bank is also the largest bank in the Southern Hemisphere.

Founded in 1911 by the Australian government and fully privatised in 1996, the Commonwealth Bank is one of the "big four" Australian banks, with National Australia Bank (NAB), ANZ and Westpac. The bank listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1991.

The former global headquarters of Commonwealth Bank were the Commonwealth Trading Bank Building on the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place, Sydney, which was refurbished from 2012 for retail and commercial uses, and (from 1984 to 2012) the State Savings Bank Building on Martin Place, which was sold in 2012 to Macquarie Bank. The headquarters were moved to Tower 1, 201 Sussex Street and two new nine-storey buildings which were built at the site of the former Sega World Sydney, in Darling Harbour on the western side of Sydney's city centre.

Commonwealth Bank is today announcing new and updated environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and practices that support our efforts to make a positive impact through the way we do business.

Commonwealth Bank Chief Executive Ian Narev said: "Commonwealth Bank has been around for more than a century. We want to continue to be successful well into the future. That means we need to be cognisant of the long-term impact our business has on the economies and communities in which we operate. An important part of that is rigorously and consistently examining our lending and investment decisions to understand and assess environmental and social impacts. The policies and practices that we are announcing today enable us to do that. They also provide transparency so we can be held accountable by our stakeholders for the decisions we make."

The new and updated policies and practices have been devised under Commonwealth Bank Group's 2016-2018 Corporate Responsibility Strategy which guides us in achieving our vision to excel at securing and enhancing the financial wellbeing of people, businesses and communities.

Tackling climate change

Commonwealth Bank has had a Group Environment Policy since 2001. It has been updated to acknowledge international efforts to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius, and the need to transition from traditional economic models, and the world's current energy mix, to low carbon and renewable alternatives.

The updated policy expresses our commitment to support the transition to a low carbon economy and builds on our existing commitments to: reduce our direct environmental impacts; apply comprehensive environmental risk management frameworks to our lending and investing decisions; use our position to influence the companies we lend to and invest in with respect to their impact on the environment; and actively support businesses and technologies that reduce dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate the effects of climate change. The policy will be reviewed annually.

Research and review a sustainability policy 2015 of Commonwealth Bank of Australia andrecommend policy options.

Questions

Submit a report that covers the following.

1. Determine the scope and direction of the sustainability policy:

1. Define the scope of the policy.
2. You will be observed gathering information from a range of sources to plan and develop the policy. Sources may include business website, colleagues, consultants, regulators, industry associations, legislation and compliance requirements. You must participate in discussions to elicit the views of others.

2. Make recommendations for policy options:

1. Review the effectiveness of each option, such as by using a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis.
2. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis.
3. Outline time frames for implementing the policy.

3. Develop a sustainability policy for Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The policy must:

1. Incorporate the organisation's commitment to sustainability as a part of business planning.
2. Implement resource efficiency, minimising resource use, and reducing toxic material and use of hazardous chemicals.
3. Employ life cycle management approaches and continuous improvement.

4.Obtain agreement from stakeholders on methods of implementation, outcomes and performance indicators. This may include documenting the performance measures (KPIs) and indicating the checkpoints. Agreement can be obtained via a questionnaire or email confirmation. You can refer to the principles of SMART in creating your own performance indicators of sustainability management in CBA.

Note: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Sustainability Policy is available:

https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank/about-us/shareholders/pdfs/corporate-responsibility/2017/2017-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf

5.You will be observed communicating the workplace sustainability policy in an oral discussion with stakeholders, including those involved in its implementation. This may include a communication plan with accompanying notes for the presentation in a meeting or planning day. As part of your communication, you must:

1. Promote the policy and outline the expected outcomes.
2. Outline the procedures required to implement the policy.
3. Assign responsibilities for implementing the policy to track continuous improvements in sustainability approaches.
4. Develop communication procedures to help implement sustainability policy
5. Present the information using language appropriate to the audience.

6.Submit an implementation report outlining the strategies you undertook for continuous improvement in resource efficiency, including employing life cycle management approaches.

Submit a report reviewing the sustainability policy and provide feedback to stakeholders.

7. Review the implementation of the policy and procedures. This includes:

1. Investigate and document the outcomes, including successes by reviewing/ researching the current CBA sustainability performance and corporate governance
2. Identify trends and areas that require remedial action for continuous improvement of performance.
3. Provide feedback to key stakeholders, such as in a meeting or presentation. You will be observed participating in discussions when you provide the feedback.

8.Modify the policy and procedures to ensure improvements are made. This may require adjusting the policy or resource allocation based on feedback.