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Reducing our environmental impact

Environmental and climate consciousness are aligned to our mutual purpose.

We aim to take meaningful action by reducing the environmental impact of our business operations and managing better the impacts of a more unpredictable climate. We're also helping customers make their homes more energy efficient.

Note:

This area of our website offers information about some of the things we do as a responsible business. For information about how you could improve the energy efficiency of your home, visit our greener homes page.

Climate-related financial disclosures

Explore our emissions, risks and opportunities associated with climate change, and how we’re responding to them.

Climate-related financial disclosures

Environmental standard

Understand how our policies, guides and training inspire the thinking behind environmental performance at every level of our organisation.

Environmental standard

Our support for a net-zero economy

We support the UK's transition to a net-zero economy and aim to reduce our environmental impact through our business operations. As a building society, our focus is on providing banking products and services for our customers. We have very limited corporate lending through small, closed commercial real estate and private finance initiative portfolios and lending to registered social landlords. Nationwide does not lend to any other industries.

Intermediate (by 2030) science-based targets

We have set intermediate (by 2030) science-based targets for reducing our carbon emissions, in line with the UK’s goal to be net-zero by 2050.

Some of the action we are taking includes:


  1. 100% renewable electricity

    We continue to source 100% renewable electricity.


  1. Gas free by the end of 2030

    We are in the process of becoming gas-free across all our business operations by the end of 2030 and replacing this with electrical solutions.


Learn more

Measuring our waste and water consumption

We continue to divert as much waste as possible from landfill, with 97% of waste being diverted over the financial year, ending 4 April 2024. We also measure our waste and water consumption across our sites.

More about our climate-related financial disclosures

Our approach to biodiversity

We continue to work towards a more sustainable approach to managing our property estate, and increasing biodiversity is part of our long-term property sustainability strategy. We have a five-year management action plan in place to support our progress around our head office grounds in Swindon.

More about our climate-related financial disclosures

Oakfield development

Nationwide’s Oakfield development consists of 239 EPC A-rated homes, built on a brownfield site in Swindon.

By the end of March 2024, approximately a quarter of the site’s build was complete, with the whole site on track to be complete by the summer of 2025. Each home is fitted with an air source heat pump and solar panels, and the development is completely gas-free.

By the end of 2023, 70% of the planting, to encourage insects and birds, had been completed (as recommended by the Royal Horticultural Society).

We worked closely with the local community in the design and planning, with the development achieving accreditation by Building with Nature. We hope our approach to Oakfield will become a blueprint for other responsible organisations who wish to build more energy-efficient housing developments, in collaboration with local communities.

Learn more about Oakfield

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