Carmel Onions is the Executive Manager of Agribusiness Sustainability at Commonwealth Bank (CBA).
She leads the introduction of pioneering financial services, including Australia's first Sustainability Linked Loan for Agriculture and the groundbreaking CBA Agri Green Loan.
Carmel supports CBA customers in areas of ESG, sustainability, and carbon and biodiversity markets. She is passionate about helping farmers foster on-farm productivity and resilience through natural capital improvement. Part of her role is to educate farmers on the importance of sustainable practice changes and empower them with the knowledge to finance these changes.
She outlines her passion for the ag sector below:
"I'm very fond of the ag sector. It's very hard-working, genuine and salt of the earth. It's such an essential thing for humanity's existence. These people fulfil an essential function and work so hard.
Then, as I learned about climate change and biodiversity loss as pretty important issues, I saw the opportunity that farmers have to rebuild natural capital and solve climate issues in a way that makes farms more profitable and resilient.
So, for me, it's a win-win. Farmers benefit and, in the process, they have an enormous role in helping save our planet. That's just an incredibly exciting story. And I think one that we should be speaking about more."
Carmel holds a First Class Honours degree in Agricultural Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment Analysis.
