UK Cash Industry Joins Forces to Meet Climate Targets

In the last quarter of last year, the UK bank NatWest established three cross industry working groups to improve the environmental performance of the UK’s cash cycle. Involving 36 organisations, the working groups looked at energy, plastics and CO2 to establish best practice and to drive change.

The UK has signed up to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 as laid out in the Paris Agreement and which, in 2019, became part of UK law. Global emissions must fall by 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030 if the global temperature rise is to be limited to 1.5°C and to achieve net zero. The UK projections suggest that it will fall behind where it needs to be.

The response of the industry was impressive, with parties from the entire cash cycle involved - including the Bank of England, De La Rue and the Royal Mint, 13 commercial banks, retailers, machine suppliers, ATM companies, CITs and more.