YES BANK announced that it has been awarded an ‘A-’ rating by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for its 2022 Climate Change disclosures. Attaining this rating makes it the highest rated Indian bank for climate disclosures, reaffirming its position as a climate leader in the sector.
CDP annually rates global organizations across sectors, based on their climate-related performance. YES BANK earned the ‘Leadership Band’ (A/ A-) in 8 out of 12 climate-related disclosure categories, including climate governance, Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission reporting, emission reduction initiatives, risk management processes, portfolio impact, and climate targets, amongst others. The ratings are reported to be accessed by more than 680 institutional investor signatories of CDP, with assets totaling over USD 130 trillion.
This rating surpasses global average (C), averages for financial services (B-) and Asia Region (C)
The Bank has earned Leadership Band (A/ A-) in 8 out of 12 categories of climate disclosures
Globally, only 21% of organizations in financial services have achieved the Leadership Band under the Climate Change disclosure category
YES BANK was the first Indian banking signatory to CDP and has been making carbon disclosures since 2009. It shares this Leadership Band with 21% of organizations in financial services globally, that reported their performance through CDP’s Climate Change 2022 disclosures. The average rating for the financial services and the Asia Region were ‘B-’ and ‘C’, respectively, with the global average at ‘C’.
It is interesting that a bank that magically survived going out of business for glaring corporate governance violations barely a year ago, and saved by the government, has such terrific record as a green bank.
Initiatives
- The Bank has strengthened its climate governance by constituting a Board level, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Committee, in addition to a management level Sustainability Council, chaired by the MD & CEO.
- It has instituted domain-specific climate related KPIs into the goal sheets of the top management to ensure that climate action is embedded into the Bank’s decision-making process.
- The Bank recognizes the significance of climate risk and was the first Bank in India to enhance its sustainability disclosures in line with the Taskforce on Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
- First Indian Bank to measure and report financed emissions of its electricity generation loan exposure and develop targets to align with The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) well-below 2°C scenario
- It is the first Indian Bank to be a Founding Signatory to UN Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Responsible Banking and to sign the Commitment to Climate Action, striving to align its business strategy with the Paris Climate Agreement.
- It announced a target to achieve net zero emissions from its operations by 2030 and has begun sourcing 100% renewable energy to power its key facilities such as its corporate and registered office in Mumbai.
- It has adopted an Environmental Management Policy and has instituted an ISO 14001:2015 compliant Environment Management System (EMS) designed to conserve the usage of natural resources, improve key resource efficiencies, and reduce its carbon footprint.
- The bank has also developed and brought to market a number of green financial instruments such as India’s first Green Bond in 2015 and India’s first Green Fixed Deposit in 2018.
