Carbon Innovators Network Member Interview - Rosemary Bissett from National Australia Bank

In this issue, Carbon Matters introduces Network member Rosemary Bissett.

Originally from Gippsland, Rosemary now lives in the north western suburbs of Melbourne. She is a director of the Moreland Energy Foundation, and for the past four years has been working at National Australia Bank (NAB). Prior to her time at NAB, Rosemary worked for the Sustainable Energy Authority (before it became Sustainability Victoria) and in the water industry at City West Water and Melbourne Water.

1. What value do you gain from being a Carbon Innovators Network member?
It's the ability to be in amongst other people who are working on similar issues and problems and to be able to share and bounce ideas off other people. It provides stimulation to think differently and innovate; many minds can solve problems. I think that's the core value of it. Climate change is not a problem you can deal with in isolation, anything that brings people together on the issue is of value.

2. How does your work relate to the environment?
My work is significantly related to the environment. It is important to me, to be able to go to work and do something I am passionate about and that makes a difference. I have responsibility for coordinating NAB’s Group level environmental and climate change related reporting and working across the Group to assist in the development of climate change-related strategy, policy and sustainable business practices.

3. What was the moment or experience that started your focus on climate change/ sustainability/ the environment?
I don't have a single moment or experience I can point to, I think it's been gradual as I have been working as an environmental professional all my working life. However, I think my childhood in the country has affected my views and has contributed to my focus on sustainability. For example, having to think about water use and fires in summer makes the environment and sustainability considerations a real part of daily life.

4. What are some of the biggest challenges you face, either at work or in personal pursuits, when addressing climate change/ sustainability/ the environment?
I think engaging widely around climate change is challenging, as it encompasses some very complex issues. It's important that people can understand how they can make a difference and how what they do in their home lives and working roles is relevant. To engage people effectively, we need to be able to communicate about the concepts related to climate change and the actions we can take in a very simple way.

Another challenge is the pace of change in the regulatory environment. This is extraordinary compared to the past. It's great to see environmental issues being taken seriously as mainstream issues, but this has many challenges as well.

More broadly, making sure Australia has enough of the skills business needs to respond to the changing business environment in which we have - emissions trading, a range of complementary measures related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and so on, and new monitoring and reporting requirements is also going to be challenging. For example, there is still a lot of work to do around monitoring and measurement. For organisations like EPA Victoria and NAB and others that have made Carbon Neutral commitments, there are challenges related to communicating what that means and capturing data making up our carbon inventories, particularly in relation to Scope 3 emissions.

5. What would you ideally like to see happen in the next few years concerning the environment?
On a personal level I would like:

1. to see governments from around the world reach a post Kyoto agreement and set a path to seriously reducing global emissions in a way that is fair and equitable to developing and developed countries. This will be very challenging.
2. to see empowered businesses and communities that feel like they can make a difference in responding to climate change and improving our environment.
3. to see a move away from our current 'throw-away' society. That we learn some lessons from past and get back to where we reuse and repair things more often so we reduce our waste and consumption.

6. What is one major stride your company is taking to tackle the sustainability challenges around energy, water, biodiversity and/or climate change?
NAB Group is committed to be Carbon Neutral by September 2010. This is a global commitment across our all our businesses and it is a key action we are taking as part of our Global Climate Change Strategy.

Our strategy has five key areas of focus:

• Leadership through our own actions
• Engaging and assisting our people
• Understanding and assisting our customers
• Building key partnerships
• Continuing to grow our understanding of climate risks and opportunities.

Our businesses are doing some great things to reduce our organisational greenhouse emissions in relation to energy efficiency. For example, we have just achieved the Carbon Trust Standard accreditation, a key deliverable under the UK's new Carbon Reduction Commitment legislation; we're the first high street bank in the UK to get that.

Across the Group, our businesses are applying ecologically sustainable design standards. Our Leeds head office in the UK is a carbon neutral accredited building. Buildings refurbished in Australia also have sustainability as an important driver. For example, 500 Bourke Street Melbourne is undergoing a large scale commercial refurbishment, which is a significant partnership between the building owner, ourselves and others. In NZ, we also have three major building projects taking place, which will improve the sustainability and energy efficiency of the buildings we occupy.

In Australia, we have also commenced a tri-generation project at our main data centre. The tri-generation plant will enable us to simultaneously produce electricity, heating and cooling using a gas-fired turbine, which is less emissions intensive.

7. Who is your environmental hero?
When I think about it, I don't have one significant environmental hero but a number of people have influenced me throughout my career and life to date. This includes people who influenced me and mentored me personally and other more public figures who I have seen influence incredible change.

Personally people like Cheryl Batagol, Mike Hill and Professor Nancy Millis come to mind. When I think of more public figures that have had influence– names such as Stern, Garnaut have made a real difference, also David Attenborough, Tim Flannery and Al Gore. They have all contributed to changing community and business view and understanding around environmental issues.

8. What sustainable choice or initiative have you recently made in which you are most proud or found most rewarding? What more do you seek to accomplish?
From a personal point of view: I am on a journey to make my house more sustainable, it's not finished yet, but I'm slowly changing my house through renovation and retrofits. It's been awhile since I started, and at times seems like a project with no end, but it's actually rewarding to see the changes have an impact.

9. What is a less sustainable choice that you are not so proud of a.k.a. your non-environmentally friendly vice?
It probably is driving rather than using public transport to get to work, which is why I choose to drive a Prius. In the area where I live there is not an option to take public transport after 7 pm at night so I drive. And I suppose from feedback from colleagues, preferring to read and keep hard copies of documents means I have a bias towards printing, so that is a possibly a vice. In terms of holidays, I like visiting new places, but I try to make up for that now by purchasing offsets for my flights. There are too many great places to explore to stay at home.