SHAREHOLDER GROUP RELEASES NET ZERO ROADMAP FOR CANADIAN BANKS

Findings To Inform Investor Proposals

TORONTO, Dec. 16, 2021 /CNW/ - Today, the shareholder advocacy organization Investors for Paris Compliance released a set of best practices for Canadian banks to make good on their net zero pledges. Based on experience around the world, the guide provides investors, customers, and the general public a framework to evaluate whether banks are following through on their climate commitments.

"Canada's banks play a huge role allocating capital to clean or dirty economic activities and as such will help determine whether Canada meets its emissions targets or stays wedded to fossil fuels," said Matt Price, Director of Corporate Engagement. "Net zero pledges were the first step for Canada's banks – now we need to see concrete and rapid steps towards implementation."

The report Best Practices for Canadian Banks' Net Zero Implementation covers topics from Paris-aligned net zero targets to sustainable finance to just transition and Indigenous Rights. It contains 14 recommended best practices. Investors for Paris Compliance will begin to benchmark the largest banks against the 14 recommendations in the Spring of 2022, and update as progress is made.

Canada's five largest banks – RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, and CIBC – all rank among the top 25 fossil fuel lenders in the world, collectively lending well over half a trillion dollars to fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement was signed, including hundreds of billions into fossil fuel expansion.¹ This conflicts with the International Energy Agency's pathway for net zero, which concludes: "There is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net zero pathway" because "no new oil and gas fields are required beyond those already approved for development." ²

Canada's largest banks recently joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a voluntary initiative convened by former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney. As part of the Alliance, banks commit to net zero in their financed emissions by mid-century, consistent with no more than 1.5 degrees of warming by 2100. Banks also commit to setting a 2030 target that Carney says should represent their fair share of the halving of emissions needed by that date. None of those commitments are mandatory, however, and Canada's regulators have so far taken little action to decarbonize Canada's financial sector to check the systemic risk that is building with the climate crisis.

As attention grows to the connection between climate and finance, banks in Canada and around the world will face a range of related shareholder proposals at AGMs in the Spring of 2022. The report provides background and insight into what those proposals will likely entail.

To view Best Practices for Canadian Banks' Net Zero Implementation, visit www.investors4paris.com

Investors for Paris Compliance (I4PC) is a shareholder advocacy organization tracking Canadian publicly traded companies on their net zero commitments and implementation. I4PC represents investors or takes its own financial positions in select companies to engage them to improve accountability, including filing shareholder resolutions where appropriate. For more information visit www.investors4paris.com

¹ https://www.ran.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Banking-on-Climate-Chaos-2021.pdf

² See: https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050 and https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2021/executive-summary

SOURCE Investors for Paris Compliance

Matt Price, Director of Corporate Engagement, matt [at] investors4paris [dot] com or 250-709-0171