Fast Facts

• Environmental sustainability is a key part of banks’ social responsibility efforts.
• Banks have established environmental policies, goals and practices that help guide their activities inside and out.
• Visit cba.ca/banks-and-the-environment to learn more.

The bottom line

Canada’s banks recognize the urgency of addressing climate change and understand that the financial sector is central to securing the transition to a low-carbon economy, mitigating the impacts of humans on the environment and ensuring the continued resilience of our country’s financial system.

Banks also understand that firm commitments are required to accelerate clean economic growth in Canada and to meet the ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050 set by the Paris Agreement on climate change.

To that end, banks in Canada have pledged to implement climate action plans that set specific targets to meet the demands of this global challenge:

• Financial commitments in the hundreds of billions in support of environmental and sustainable finance activities
• Enhanced focus on financing and investing in lower-carbon businesses, and working with existing business customers in higher-carbon sectors to finance their transition efforts
• Several banks are working on implementing the climate-related disclosures developed by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
• Bank-led programs and strategies to limit the carbon footprint of their own operations through concrete actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Issuance of green bonds to help finance new and existing green projects, assets and businesses that mitigate the risks and effects of climate change
• New metrics are being developed to link environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to bank group performance and executive pay
• Six of Canada’s largest banks have joined the Net‑Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a global initiative of banks worldwide committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Several banks have also joined RMI’s Centre for Climate-Aligned Finance and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, a global partnership of financial institutions
• Financial support to the Institute for Sustainable Finance to help give momentum to their activities

Visit banks' environment websites for more information:

• BMO Financial Group
• CIBC
• Canadian Western Bank
• Laurentian Bank
• National Bank of Canada
• RBC
• Scotiabank
• Tangerine
• TD Bank Group

Bank announcements

January 24, 2024
BMO Partners with Canada Infrastructure Bank to Help Canadian Clients Finance Energy Retrofits in a Sustainable Finance First

March 12, 2024
CIBC releases 2023 ESG disclosures updating its progress toward a more sustainable future

March 7, 2024
Laurentian Bank Releases its 2023 ESG Report

November 8, 2022
Quo Vadis Capital Announces a Net-Zero Transition Loan for the Comprehensive Revitalization of Complexe du Canal Lachine

March 6, 2024
New actions from RBC to support client decarbonization efforts and the transition to a greener economy

March 14, 2024
Scotiabank releases 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report and Climate Report

March 14, 2024
TD outlines continued progress on sustainability goals in 2023 Sustainability Reporting Suite