NEDBANK'S SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT

The year 2009 was difficult for the financial services sector worldwide in the aftermath of the global financial crisis – a crisis that, sadly, was caused by companies adopting non- sustainable business practices at the expense of their stakeholders.

It is pleasing to note that, throughout the financial crisis, South Africa’s banking system remained resilient, as demonstrated by the country’s move from 15th to 6th place in the latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report.

Despite the immense pressures of the past two years, Nedbank Group has continued to focus on sustainability by positively contributing to all stakeholders and balancing short-term profitability with our overriding goal of long-term sustainability.

This is because Nedbank Group strives to be a leader in sustainability, not for competitive advantage, but because it makes sound business and moral sense. Our focus is on balancing environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability issues to make a valuable contribution to the future of our country by uplifting and empowering people and preserving our natural resources.

The financial crisis has heightened the focus on economic sustainability and we have continued to concentrate on entrenching sound risk management practices and refining our governance and compliance policies to improve the competitiveness of our bank.

After lagging on the transformation curve for some time, Nedbank Group has made great strides in becoming a truly southern African group and, in 2009, we were ranked as the most-empowered financial institution in South Africa and the third most-empowered company out of the top 200 companies on JSE Limited.

Within the context of government’s commitment to cut carbon emissions over the next 15 years, Nedbank Group is proud to be the only domestic bank to commit itself to becoming carbon neutral within our defined scope and reporting boundary. Our efforts to combat climate change have seen groupwide intensity reduction targets incorporated into business and individual performance scorecards with the aim of accelerating the rate of behavioural change across the group.

Given these, and the many other initiatives undertaken over the past year, sustainability is definitely gaining traction within our bank, reinforced by a steadily growing sustainability culture that is taking root across the organisation.

We remain a signatory to the Equator Principles, which offer sustainable business guidelines to the financial sectors of the world, and we continue to support the UN Global Compact and the UNEP FI African Task Force, which allow us to remain actively engaged in developing and financing various sustainable solutions across the African continent.

As the first steps are taken towards formulating a comprehensive climate change policy for the country, Nedbank eagerly anticipates walking together with government, business and civil society in developing South Africa’s greener future. Central to this aspiration is our desire to serve clients across all of our businesses in exciting, innovative and relevant ways that enable them to participate in the shift to a low-carbon economy.

In signing off on my last sustainability report before handing over the reins to my successor, Mike Brown, I would like to thank all of our stakeholders for affording me the privilege of participating in the sustainability journey of such a committed, dynamic and caring organisation.

Tom Boardman
Chief Executive

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