TORONTO, Nov. 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Scotiabank is pleased to announce it has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America for the fourth consecutive year. The Bank achieved an overall score in the 92^nd percentile – moving it into the top eight percent of participating financial institutions from around the world. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is considered the industry standard for measuring corporate environmental, social and governance practices.

This year, Scotiabank secured perfect scores in the categories of Anti-crime Policy, Environmental Reporting, and Risk & Crisis Management, and rates in the top 1% among global financial institutions in Corporate Governance. Scotiabank's Climate Commitments, commitment to diversity and inclusion, sustainable financing and advisory activity also supported top scores in Corporate Governance,  Codes of Business Conduct, Human Capital Development and Talent Attraction & Retention.

"Our strong performance in this year's ranking, along with several sector-leading recognitions, demonstrates our commitment to operating at the highest standards across our footprint," says Brian Porter, President and CEO, Scotiabank. "We are proud to have our efforts recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the fourth consecutive year."

Actioning its commitment to mobilize $100 billion by 2025 to help reduce the impacts of climate change, the Bank is advancing well against this target, placing it more than halfway to meeting its goal. Earlier this year the Bank also issued an inaugural USD$1 billion three-year sustainability bond.  Proceeds are used to fund the financing or refinancing of eligible green and social assets aligned with Scotiabank's Sustainable Bond Framework, supporting clients in their sustainable business growth.  

Other significant Scotiabank corporate sustainability achievements include:

• Joining the United-Nations-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a global initiative to accelerate efforts of the financial sector in addressing climate change.
• Increasing Scotiabank's Net Zero Research Fund to $10 million (CAD) to help advance research in support of the transition to a low-carbon economy. In 2021 we provided $1 million in grants to ten universities and research organizations to support public policy and science and technology research for the reduction of carbon emissions.
• Joining the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) to support and enable the development of measurement methodologies to track and report financed emissions.
• Investing $3.2 billion in capital since 2018 to women-owned and women-led businesses through The Scotiabank Women Initiative™, exceeding our original commitment and engaging +6,000 women-led entrepreneurs and more than 15 organizations in the effort.
• Collaborating with FINTRAC and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) to launch Project Shadow, a public-private partnership creating a role for financial institutions in detecting online child sexual exploitation; as well as working through other partnerships to support survivors of human trafficking and online exploitation providing access to financial services for survivors to rebuild their financial independence.
• Updating the Bank's Human Rights Statement to improve its alignment with best practices and the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework.

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 the SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). 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, 2021), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit https://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank