NatWest has introduced a new carbon footprint tracking app to help customers reduce the climate impact of their spending.

The new feature, delivered in partnership with carbon tracking expert CoGo, will allow customers to see the CO2 emissions associated with their daily spending, as well as providing hints and tips on how to go greener and resources for doing so.

Insights from the pilot showed the average user saved approximately 11 kg of CO2 emissions per month by committing to behavioural changes that used less carbon – such as composting, reducing meat consumption, or switching utilities providers. If this behaviour was replicated 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.

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.”

Composting food waste and choosing renewable electricity suppliers were the most popular and impactful climate actions selected by users in the pilot. Adopting a vegetarian diet and buying second-hand clothing was more popular with younger demographics. More than half (60 per cent) 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 new and meaningful choices.

In addition, the pilot showed that women under 30 years old were particularly likely to make a commitment to changing behaviour after seeing the impact of their spending, with more than 55 per cent choosing to take action.

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