CDP Upgrades YES BANK’s Rating to ‘A-’ Leadership Band

MUMBAI:
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 the Bank 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.

YES BANK was the first Indian banking signatory to CDP and has been making carbon disclosures since 2009. The Bank 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’.

Commenting on this achievement, Niranjan Banodkar, Chief Financial Officer and Head – Sustainable Finance, YES BANK, said, “Climate crisis is a major challenge of our times. As an organization, YES BANK is fully committed to contributing its bit, not only towards strengthening the resilience of its business against climate risks, but also supporting, and accelerating the transition to low carbon. The leadership rating by CDP is a testament to the Bank’s focused approach to embed climate considerations into its business, and transparently report its climate strategy and progress to all stakeholders.”

Also added, Prarthana Borah, Director, CDP India, “COP27 has reminded us of the urgent system-wide action to ensure that we limit global warming to 1.5°C to avoid the worst effects of climate change. YES BANK has demonstrated its commitment to transparency around its environmental impacts and strategies. We congratulate YES BANK for engaging in the climate action journey through disclosures. CDP looks forward to supporting companies who are taking action to identify and address climate risks. It is heartening to see companies stepping up on their climate action commitments”.

Some of the climate initiatives undertaken by YES BANK
YES BANK has taken significant steps to integrate climate considerations into its business strategy, some of which are detailed below:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. YES BANK is the 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
5. It is the first Indian Bank to be a Founding Signatory to UN Environment Programme 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.
6. The Bank has 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 – YES BANK House in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
7. The Bank 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.
8. YES 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. The Bank continues to explore newer opportunities and mobilize finance towards climate aligned sectors, including renewable energy, roof top solar electric mobility, climate-smart and sustainable agriculture, among others.