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