Former BHP Chief Sustainability Officer joins Westpac

Australian bank Westpac has appointed Fiona Wild, the former CSO of mining giant BHP, as its new Chief Sustainability Officer.

Reporting to Westpac CEO Anthony Miller, Wild is responsible for leading the bank’s sustainability strategy, which includes reducing its carbon footprint and aligning its lending portfolio with net zero goals by 2050. 

She replaces Siobhan Toohill in the role, after the former CSO left last July.

Westpac sustainability ambitions

Westpac is aiming to cut Scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions by 64% by 2025 and 76% by 2030, from a 2021 baseline. As of 2024, the bank had achieved an 86% reduction from its baseline, surpassing its 2030 target.

This was achieved largely by procuring renewable electricity for the equivalent of 100%  of its needs, and transitioning its fleets to electric vehicles.

Scope 3 upstream emissions were also 41% lower in 2024 than in 2021, on track towards the bank’s 50% reduction goal by 2030.

Westpac joined the Net Zero Banking Alliance in 2022 and has set 2030 decarbonisation targets for high-emitting sectors within its portfolio, covering 54% of its financed emissions. 

While most American and Canadian banks, as well as Australian bank Macquarie Group, have now left the NZBA, Westpac appears to remain committed to the initiative.

Fiona Wild’s BHP career

Wild was previously BHP’s Chief Sustainability Officer for two and a half years, but she led efforts to make the mammoth Australian miner more sustainable since 2010. Under her leadership, BHP reduced operational emissions by nearly 40% or 6.5 million tonnes between 2021 and 2023, while Scope 3 emissions dropped by 7.5%.

The wide majority of BHP’s GHG emissions comes from the processing of ore to make steel, and the company launched a partnership with Indian steelmaker SAIL last year to accelerate the decarbonisation of this process.

The mining company is yet to name a replacement for Wild, who also spent 11 years in BP’s environmental department before joining BHP.