mecu sustainability covenant
Signing the Sustainability Covenant Certificates are (left to right) Phylip Doughty, CEO mecu; John Thwaites, former Minister for Environment; Peter Ford, Director mecu; Terry A'Hearn, EPA's Director of Sustainable Development. |
On 8 November 2005, the Minister for Environment, the Hon. John Thwaites, launched EPA's sustainability covenant with mecu, Victoria's largest credit union. This is a three-year agreement to increase resource use efficiency and reduce ecological impact at mecu, as well as in the wider financial services sector. With over 110,000 members and assets exceeding $1.1 billion, mecu is a credit union that offers a range of personal banking, insurance and financial planning services.
Former Minister Thwaites spoke at the launch about the great steps mecu has already taken towards integrating sustainability considerations into its day-to-day decision-making. mecu approaches sustainability in an integrated way that is part of its overarching business philosophy. It believes that sustainability is ultimately about creating long-term value for its members. The covenant between EPA and mecu aims to further this progress towards sustainability and commits both organisations to a range of actions to achieve this.
What is the aim of this covenant?
The covenant aims to help mecu achieve sustainability objectives and commits both EPA and mecu to certain actions in the areas of:
- ethics and governance
- employees
- social impact
- environmental impact, and
- leadership and partnerships.
In August 2006, mecu and EPA undertook a review of the covenant's first year action plan and as part of this review, have updated the covenant to better reflect mecu's approach to sustainability. This updated document includes the action plan for the second year of the covenant.
- Download the updated mecu Sustainability Covenant (Adobe PDF file, 944KB)
- Download the original mecu Sustainability Covenant (Adobe PDF file, 370KB)
Providing members with a balanced combination of environmental, social and economic performance that is unmatched by any other financial services organisation, mecu can use the sustainability covenant as an important instrument in this pursuit. The sustainability covenant strengthens mecu's influence within the financial services sector and particularly the credit union industry, in the development of more sustainable practices, products and services.
mecu already offer a range of products and services that reflect its commitment to sustainability, including the goGreen® Car Loan and the goGreen® Home Improvement Loan.
For more information about these products, go to mecu's website.
In June 2005 mecu won the 2005 Gold Banksia Award for its goGreen® Car Loan and it was also awarded the Leadership in Financial Services and Sustainability category prize. Launched in November 2003, mecu's goGreen® Car Loan product has contributed to the planting of approximately 22,000 trees annually in the Murray Darling Basin through Greenfleet, a Victorian-based not-for-profit organisation, which offsets the greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles that are financed through the goGreen® loan scheme.
What has mecu achieved so far?
Since the covenant was signed on 29 June 2005, there have already been real outcomes from it. This includes mecu's first two sustainability reports. Both reports are a comprehensive account of mecu's activities in relation to the covenant and make use of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines.
The latest report is available on mecu's website - www.mecu.com.au/susreport/content/home/.
Contact details
For more information, contact:
mecu (head office)
222 High Street
Kew Victoria 3101
Telephone: 132 888
Website
EPA Victoria
GPO Box 4395QQ
Melbourne VIC 3001
Telephone: (03) 9695 2722
Send an email