NatWest partners CoGo to launch free carbon footprint tracker to app users

By Joy Dumasia

NatWest has announced introducing a new carbon footprint tracking feature for its mobile app to help customers reduce the climate impact of their spending.

The UK banking, first delivered in partnership with carbon tracking expert CoGo, will allow customers to see the CO2 emissions associated with their daily spending and provide hints and tips on going greener and resources for doing so.

If replicated this behaviour across NatWest’s 8 million customers who use the mobile app, it would save more than 1 billion kg of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to planting 17 million trees.

Adopting a vegetarian diet and buying second-hand clothing was more popular with younger demographics. More than half (60%) of the behaviours committed to were reported as being new by those on the pilot, indicating that the trial was helping to provide a range of unique and meaningful choices.

The pilot programme saw particular interest in switching to renewable energy, which saved participants who chose it an average of 90kg of carbon emissions per month – a potential saving of 8 billion kilograms if replicated across the NatWest app user base.

David Lindberg, CEO, Retail Banking at NatWest, said: “We know that many people in the UK want to reduce their impact on the climate, and that to be able to change something in a meaningful way, you need to be able to measure it. Our use of CoGo’s expertise in carbon tracking in the NatWest app is a really important first step in making it easy for everyone to live and spend in a greener way – using the power of their money to influence change.”

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that NatWest Group, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Ireland and Banca Mediolanum, together with treasury teams from some of the world’s other most prominent banks, have trialled a solution for intraday FX swaps. The banks plan to support the initiative further, with live transactions expected in 2021 or early 2022.