Westpac promotes sustainability lead to Deputy CSO

Westpac has promoted Michael Chen, who has led sustainability at the bank since 2015, to Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer.

The appointment comes just a few months after the Australian bank poached BHP’s former CSO Fiona Wild to take the helm of its sustainability strategy as Chief Sustainability Officer. Chen will work as Wild’s right hand, leveraging his decade of experience within the bank.

He was Westpac’s Acting CSO for about a year until Wild joined in March 2025, and previously held the roles of Head of Sustainability, Institutional, and Head of Sustainable Finance.

Before joining Westpac, Chen spent a year at the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and held a number of sustainable finance-related roles at insurance group IAG and consultancy PwC. 

“I am so excited about this and what we'll be able to achieve at Westpac together,” CSO Wild commented below Chen’s career move announcement on Linkedin.

Westpac’s sustainability leadership team

At the end of March 2025, Westpac appointed Fiona Wild, the former CSO of mining giant BHP, as its new Chief Sustainability Officer, reporting to CEO Anthony Miller.

Replacing Siobhan Toohill in the role, Wild  is responsible for leading the bank’s sustainability strategy, which includes reducing its carbon footprint and aligning its lending portfolio with net zero goals by 2050. 

Westpac has set a target to cut Scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions by 64% by 2025 and 76% by 2030, from a 2021 baseline. As of 2024, the bank had achieved an 86% reduction from its baseline, surpassing its 2030 target.

Unlike many of its peers, the bank remains a member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance. It has also set 2030 decarbonisation targets for high-emitting sectors within its portfolio, covering 54% of its financed emissions.