Ecology is the first building society to commit to publishing the carbon footprint of its residential mortgage lending.

The ethical lender offers a range of ethical savings accounts, which fund mortgages for properties and projects that adopt green building practices and improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s housing stock.

The firm says to calculate its lending carbon footprint, or financed emissions, it has applied the new Global Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Standard, which was developed by the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) and launched last November.

Financed emissions arise from the burning of fossil fuels, mainly gas, to heat and power mortgaged properties.

The lender says its move adds “weight to the growing momentum for all banking providers to measure and disclose their emissions. This will be critical as the financial sector supports the transition to a net-zero economy to meet the Paris targets”.

The Paris climate agreement is a set of measures aimed at keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees celsius.

Ecology says it already measures and reports its carbon footprint from its day-to-day business operations including the energy used to heat its offices, purchasing supplies as well as commuting and travel. The group offsets these operational emissions through accredited tree planting schemes.

The group says it will to launch a report at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November (COP26), which will build “momentum for more banking providers to transparently measure and disclose their emissions”.

Ecology sustainability lead Alison Vipond says: “Measuring our financed emissions using the PCAF methodology gives us a better understanding of our current mortgage portfolio. We are using this to help develop our net-zero plan, especially to target and improve energy inefficient properties.

“We’re looking forward to sharing our experience with other banking providers at COP26 so that they can join us and use the carbon accounting approach to focus on building a sustainable future.”