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
92nd 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