Scotiabank garners four awards in total, including Outstanding Global Leadership in Sustainability Transparency

TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2021 /CNW/ - Scotiabank has been recognized for its Outstanding Global Leadership in Sustainability Transparency in the inaugural Global Finance Sustainable Finance Awards. The Bank was also awarded Outstanding Leadership in Sustainability Transparency, Outstanding Leadership in Sustainable Project Finance, and Financial Leadership in Sustaining Communities in the North American category.

"ESG has become increasingly important to Scotiabank's investors, our customers, our employees, and our communities around the globe and demonstrating action on ESG has become a moral, market and business imperative," said Jake Lawrence, Group Head and CEO, Global Banking and Markets at Scotiabank. "We are committed to supporting our clients with industry-leading advice and expertise to help them achieve strong business growth that is environmentally and socially responsible."

"Our Bank's approach to sustainability is intended to deliver economic, social and environmental value to our customers, our operations and our communities," said Meigan Terry, SVP and Chief Communications and Social Impact Officer. "Transparent and robust ESG disclosure is the very foundation of fostering trust amongst all our stakeholders. We are proud that our Bank's efforts to drive consistency and comparability of ESG data have been recognized as outstanding by Global Finance."

Scotiabank was also recognized by Global Finance for its ScotiaRISE program. Launched in 2021, the Bank has committed $500 million over ten years to promote economic resilience among disadvantaged groups. The program aims to remove barriers to prosperity by targeting investments aimed at increasing high school graduation and post-secondary participation, supporting newcomer integration, and eliminating barriers to career advancement for underrepresented groups.

Sustainability Leadership:

Scotiabank is working to build a more sustainable business and deliver for every future for our customers, employees, communities and the environment. Earlier this year, the Bank launched its inaugural Net Zero Research Fund as part of its commitment to advance research and leadership in support of global decarbonization. In pursuing its own net zero targets and pathways, Scotiabank has committed to establishing bank-wide, quantitative, time-bound targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with our underwriting and lending activities. To get there, Scotiabank is undertaking a quantitative analysis of the greenhouse gas intensity of the Bank's loan book and underwriting activities, research on pathways to net zero, development of plans and targets for reducing emissions, and creation of a reporting framework to ensure transparency.  

Additional examples include:

• Scotiabank recently announced the closing of its inaugural USD 1 billion 3-year Sustainability Bond offering, making it the largest Sustainability Bond issued by a Canadian Financial or Corporate to-date.
• Announced plans to mobilize $10 billion over the next ten years in support of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to transform housing affordability across the country.
• Served as bookrunner on almost $20 billion of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds since 2014.
• Achieved a 20% reduction in operational greenhouse gas emissions from 2016 levels.
• Contributed nearly $85 million to communities last year, through donations, community sponsorships, employee volunteering and other types of community investment.
• Committed $3 billion to support women-owned and women-led businesses.
• Renewed the bank's five-year Diversity and Inclusion Goals, with a focus on people who identify as Black, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, People with Disabilities and Women.
• For the third consecutive year, achieved top 1% in Corporate Governance among financial institutions globally according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and awarded a perfect score on Anti-Crime Policies.
• Strengthened commitment to responsible procurement and supplier diversity by joining the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council, and became an Aboriginal Procurement Champion for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.
• Published our second Green Bond Report to provide investors with an overview of the estimated impact of the use of proceeds in July 2021.
• Received a "AAA" rating from MSCI, a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community - held by only 2% of banks globally.

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 approximately 90,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.1 trillion (as at April 30, 2021), 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