Scotiabank's Climate Commitments enhanced
scores in Sustainable Finance and Climate Strategy
TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2020 /CNW/ - Scotiabank is pleased
to announce it has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
(DJSI) North America for the third
consecutive year and is now ranked in the top 15 percent of
participating financial institutions from around the world. The Dow
Jones Sustainability Index is considered the industry-standard for
measuring environmental, social and governance practices.
This year, Scotiabank achieved the highest
score in Anti-crime Policy – thanks to a robust
statement on its AML program, shared publicly via the Bank's
website earlier this year – and also achieved an industry-best
score for Corporate Governance, maintaining its position in the top
1 percent of global financial institutions for the third
consecutive year. Scotiabank also achieved high scores in Customer
Relationship Management, Risk and Crisis Management, Environmental
Reporting, Corporate Citizenship/Philanthropy, Financial Inclusion
and Labour Practices.
The Bank's scores also improved significantly in the categories
of Sustainable Finance and Climate Strategy, which can be
attributed to several of the priorities outlined in Scotiabank's
Climate Commitments. Launched last year, the commitments articulate
a goal of mobilizing $100 billion by
2025 to reduce the impacts of climate change. To date, the Bank has
mobilized over $28 billion in capital
toward this target, placing it over a quarter of the way to meeting
its goal. Earlier this year the Bank also introduced the
Sustainable Finance Group to support its Global Banking and Markets
clients in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
"We are committed to operating at the highest standards in all
that we do, and we are pleased to see our considerable investments
and efforts across environmental, social, and governance
initiatives once again recognized by Dow Jones," says Brian Porter, President and CEO, Scotiabank.
"Sincere thanks to our winning team of Scotiabankers for their
contributions over the past year, and their efforts to build a more
sustainable business to deliver for every future."
Scotiabank has made progress toward its Climate Commitments
through several significant initiatives, which include:
- Mobilizing over $28 billion in
Green and Transition finance (since November
1, 2018)
- Allocating proceeds from Scotiabank's inaugural USD$500 million 3.5-year Green Bond to several
environmental projects as outlined in our Green Bond Report.
- Introducing a Climate Change Risk Assessment to further
integrate the consideration of climate change into risk management
and credit adjudication
- Establishing a partnership with the Institute of Sustainable
Finance at Queen's University; as part of Scotiabank's Climate
Change Centre of Excellence, to contribute to the global
conversation on climate change
- Creating an enterprise-wide Climate Action and Environmental
Employee Resource Group
To read more about Scotiabank's sustainability strategy and
Climate Commitments visit
www.scotiabank.com/sustainability.
About DJSI
The Dow Jones Sustainability™ North America
Index comprises North American sustainability leaders as identified
by SAM. It represents the top 20% of the largest 600 North American
companies in the S&P Global BMI based on long-term economic,
environmental and social criteria.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading
bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every
future", we help our customers, their families and their
communities achieve success through a broad range of advice,
products and services, including personal and commercial banking,
wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment
banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000
employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as at July 31, 2020),
Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:
BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information,
please visit and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
SOURCE Scotiabank