TORONTO, Dec. 16, 2021 /CNW/ - Scotiabank is pleased to announce it received a grade of A- for the second consecutive year from CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) in recognition of its strong management of climate-related issues and transparency in its disclosures. Considered "Leadership level" for implementing current best practices, the A- score is above the Financial Services Average of B and the North American Average of C and distinguishes Scotiabank for its leadership in the evolving ESG landscape.

The consistent A- rating reflects the Bank's climate change strategy and Climate Commitments established to address the risks and opportunities of the changing climate and the transition to a low-carbon economy.  The Scotiabank Climate Commitments also include a commitment to governance and transparency in disclosure, priorities that CDP also recognizes.

"CDP's annual climate questionnaire and scoring methodology is widely recognized as the gold standard of corporate climate-related reporting and transparency and we are honored to have received these leadership results," says Meigan Terry, Senior Vice President, Chief Social Impact, Sustainability and Communications Officer. "We are also proud to have exceeded financial industry average scores in every category, including scoring an 'A' in categories of Governance, Emissions Reduction Initiatives and GHG Emissions Disclosure, which we credit to our strong internal governance processes and management approach to climate change issues."

Scotiabank has made significant progress towards meeting its Climate Commitments since launching them in November 2019, including: 

• Mobilizing $58 billion in capital toward our goal of mobilising $100 billion by 2025 to address the causes and impacts of climate change
• Joining the United-Nations-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a global initiative to accelerate efforts of the financial sector in addressing climate change.
• Establishing Scotiabank's Net-Zero Research Fund , with $10 million (CAD) allocated to help advance research in support of the transition to a low-carbon economy. In 2021 Scotiabank 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.
• Launching the Net-Zero Pathways Project with the goal of establishing bank-wide, quantitative, time-bound targets for reducing GHG emissions associated with our lending activities, consistent with the ambition to be a net-zero bank by 2050.
• Staying on track to meet our target to secure 100% of electricity for our operations from non-emitting sources by 2030 on a global basis; with an interim target of 100% for Canadian operations by 2025
• Joining the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) to support and enable the development of measurement methodologies to track and report financed emissions.

This latest recognition from CDP builds on Scotiabank's track record of excellence in corporate sustainability, including recent inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America for the fourth consecutive year.

To read more about Scotiabank's sustainability strategy and Climate Commitments visit www.scotiabank.com/sustainability.

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 $1.2 trillion (as at October 31, 2021), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank