Annual reporting on the Bank's sustainability
activities features progress updates on net-zero targets and
support for community investment and economic resilience
initiatives
TORONTO, March 10,
2023 /CNW/ - Today, Scotiabank released its 2022
Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. Annually, the ESG
report provides key updates and insights into Scotiabank's progress
on its environmental, social and governance initiatives in its
operations, with its customers and in communities across its
footprint.
"Purpose is embedded in Scotiabank's DNA—we're here for every
future, to help our customers, colleagues, shareholders, and
communities thrive," said Scott
Thomson, President & CEO of Scotiabank. "Through our
role as a global financial services company, our position as a
world-class employer, and the impactful investments that we make in
the communities in which we operate, Scotiabank plays a positive
and meaningful role in addressing some of the biggest challenges
facing society and the world today."
"This report reflects the pivotal year we had in 2022, as we
accelerated our ESG efforts across the Bank and made meaningful
progress against our stated commitments," said Meigan Terry, SVP and Chief Sustainability,
Social Impact and Communications Officer at Scotiabank. "We reached
a number of important milestones, including launching our inaugural
Net-Zero Pathways Report, ScotiaRISE Impact Report, and Allyship
Summit, amongst other achievements. These accomplishments
are a demonstration of the positive and meaningful impact that
the Bank and our team continue to have on the world around
us."
This year's report provides updates on the Bank's enhanced
climate reporting, net-zero transition activities, and progress on
its ScotiaRISE program, and integrates the Bank's Canadian Public
Accountability Statement. Scotiabank's 2022 ESG Report demonstrates
the Bank's ongoing commitment to transparency, reporting on key ESG
topics across its four-pillars— Environmental Action, Economic
Resilience, Inclusive Society and Leadership and Governance.
Key highlights from the report include:
Environment
- Mobilized $96 billion in
climate-related financing since November 1,
2018, towards a target of $350
billion by 2030.
- Generated $35.3 billion of
sustainable finance activity in 2022, including green, social,
sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, loans and M&A
advisory services.
- Achieved 29% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions within
the Bank's operations (from 2016 levels) against our target of 35%
reduction by 2030.
- Outlined net-zero activities and granted $2 million to 21 organizations exploring
decarbonization and climate-related systems change since the launch
of Scotiabank's $10 million Net- Zero
Research Fund in 2021.
- See also page 106 on Net Zero.
Social
- Deployed $5.6 billion in capital
through The Scotiabank Women Initiative in Canada and expanded the program to
Jamaica, Costa Rica and Chile to help increase economic and
professional opportunities for women-owned businesses.
- Contributed $91 million globally
to communities through donations, community sponsorships, employee
volunteering and other community investments.
- Through ScotiaRISE, distributed $34
million in 2022, reaching people at more than 400,000
critical moments in time. ScotiaRISE has supported more than 200
community partners with community investments in a 10-year,
$500 million initiative to promote
economic resilience among disadvantaged groups.
- Ranked one of the top 25 World's Best Workplaces by Great Place
to Work® in 2022 — the only Bank and the only
Canadian-headquartered company to make the list.
Governance
- Enhanced Scotiabank's enterprise-wide Risk Management
Framework, expanding its principal risk definition from
environmental risk to ESG risk and established an ESG
performance metric as a risk appetite metric.
- Linked ESG performance, including progress on the Bank's
climate commitments, to all Bank performance pay.
- Published Data Ethics Principles and launched new tools to
enhance the Bank's investments in data and analytics related to new
AI and machine learning projects.
Reporting on ESG topics and Scotiabank's efforts is provided
through the 2022 ESG Report and companion ESG Data Pack and
Indices, providing multi-year performance data in excel format and
references to recognized ESG reporting frameworks. Please
refer to the About This Report, Forward-Looking Statements sections
and data considerations provided in the 2022 ESG Report.
Visit our Responsibility & Impact page to access other
sustainability-related publications, commitments and
initiatives.
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 over $1.3
trillion (as at January 31,
2023), 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
@Scotiabank.
SOURCE Scotiabank