Scotiabank's Climate Commitments to focus on a broad range of opportunities and initiatives across its business lines and operations

TORONTO, Nov. 14, 2019 /CNW/ - Recognizing the critical role that the financial services sector plays in the transition to a low-carbon, more resilient and prosperous future, Scotiabank today announced its Climate Commitments to support clients in the transition to a low-carbon economy and decarbonize its own operations.

Scotiabank's five commitments, detailed in a public position statement on the Bank's website, are:

1. Mobilize $100 billion by 2025 to reduce the impacts of climate change.
   
   
2. Ensure robust climate-related governance and reporting.
   
   
3. Enhance integration of climate risk assessments in lending, financing and investing activities.
   
   
4. Deploy innovative solutions to decarbonize operations.
   
   
5. Establish a Climate Change Centre of Excellence to mobilize collaboration, dialogue and information-sharing and contribute to the global conversation on climate change.

"Scotiabank recognizes that the changing climate is impacting the business operating environment, creating new challenges as well as opportunities in the economy," says Brian Porter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scotiabank. "Through our Climate Commitments, we are building on our past efforts to capitalize on these opportunities and effectively manage risks across our business. As a leading bank in Canada and across the Americas, we also play a unique role through our core business activities in supporting our clients in the transition to a low-carbon economy."

Scotiabank's Climate Commitments reflect its comprehensive approach to addressing climate change, and illustrate the Bank's commitment to our customers, shareholders, business, operations and employees.   Some of our recent climate-related achievements include:

• Issued inaugural USD 500 million Green Bond, in July 2019, aligned to eligible criteria in the Scotiabank Green Bond Framework, including renewable energy, clean transportation and green buildings.
• Developed a climate change risk due diligence and rating methodology, and implemented training for all banking and credit teams.
• Established an internal price on carbon in 2017, and are on-track to achieve greenhouse gas reduction target of 10 per cent by 2021.
• Adopted a new approach to working at our head office in Toronto, Canada, which has reduced square feet per employee by 40 per cent, and is expected to reduce paper use by 86 per cent.

Financial services support economic progress, allow people to pursue ambitions and create more widespread future opportunities. By paying careful attention to the areas where we feel we can have the biggest impact, Scotiabank creates economic, social and environmental value for our customers, employees, communities and our planet, while also delivering returns for our shareholders. To read more about our sustainability strategy visit www.scotiabank.com/sustainability.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in the Americas. We are dedicated to helping our more than 25 million customers become better off 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 more than 100,000 employees and assets of over $1 trillion (as at July 31, 2019), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank