At TD, we believe that we have a role to play when it comes to driving sustainable growth for the customers and communities we serve, and the economies we support. That's why we are committed to helping create a more sustainable future for everyone.
Learn more about how we are continually working to embed responsible business practices across TD and how we are working toward achieving our target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions associated with our operations and financing activities by 2050, aligned to the associated principles of the Paris Agreement.
ESG Resources
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FAQ
What is TD's Climate Action Plan?
- TD is taking clear and ambitious steps to help address the urgent challenges of climate change to help economies transition successfully to the low-carbon economy.
- TD's climate action plan builds on a long history of environmental leadership to position the Bank as a central player in the work needed to enable sustainable growth for our customers and clients, the communities we serve and the economies we support.
- TD's ambitious climate action plan includes the following elements:
- A target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions associated with its operations and financing activities by 2050, aligned to the associated principles of the Paris Agreement.
- An industry-specific approach to prioritize and advance GHG reduction opportunities.
- Establishment of GHG emissions baselines across its business and financing portfolio.
- Will work closely with clients to set interim GHG reduction goals on the path towards 2050.
- Report on its progress starting with 2021.
- Creation of a new TD Sustainable Finance and Corporate Transitions Group within TD Securities to provide clients with advisory services and important transition and sustainability-focused financing globally.
- Creation of a TD ESG Centre of Expertise drawing on experts across TD to participate in global efforts to improve data measurement and analytics, invest in research and support academic progress and technological innovation.
- TD also announced that it will not provide any new project-specific financial services, including advisory services, for activities that are directly related to the exploration, development, or production of oil and gas within the Arctic Circle, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Why is TD releasing a Climate Action Plan?
- Climate change is a critical environmental and business challenge and will require significant effort over the long term to help our economies transition successfully to the low-carbon economy.
- TD wants to be a central player in the work needed to drive sustainable growth for our customers and clients, the communities we serve and the economies we support.
- The Climate Action Plan supports the Bank's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, which leverages TD's business, people and financial resources to help deliver sustainable economic prosperity.
How are you going to measure your path to net-zero?
- A key aspect of TD's climate action plan is a focus on data measurement and analytics.
- TD intends to use an industry-specific approach to prioritize and advance GHG reduction opportunities for its financed emissions.
- While the precise path to achieve the 2050 target remains unclear, TD intends to establish GHG emission baselines across its business and financing portfolio and will work closely with clients as it sets interim GHG reduction goals on the path towards 2050. The Bank will report on its progress starting with 2021.
- TD has created an ESG Centre of Expertise, drawing on experts from across TD to participate in data measurement and analytics, invest in research and support academic progress and technological innovation.
- TD has also joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) to support the development of carbon accounting methodologies for financial institutions globally.
- TD will continue to engage with governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses and other groups to develop and promote measurement and tracking methodologies for financed emissions, as well as GHG reduction strategies aligned to science-based transition pathways.
What does Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 mean for TD?
- TD was the first Bank in North America to become Carbon Neutral in 2010.
- We are now the first major bank in Canada, and one of only a handful globally, to target net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, associated with operations and financing activities.
- The path to achieve the 2050 target remains unclear, and there are challenges to overcome, but TD wants to be a central player in the work needed to drive sustainable growth.
- TD's path to net-zero emissions includes:
- An intention to establish GHG emissions baselines across its business and financing portfolio; we will work closely with clients as we set interim GHG reduction goals on the path towards 2050. The Bank will report on its progress starting with 2021.
- An industry-specific approach to prioritize and advance GHG reduction opportunities in each sector.
- The creation of a new TD ESG Centre of Expertise drawing on experts across TD to participate in data measurement and analytics, invest in research and support academic progress and technological innovation.
- The creation of a new TD Sustainable Finance and Corporate Transitions Group within TD Securities to provide clients with advisory services and important transition and sustainability-focused financing globally.
- TD has also joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) to support the development of carbon accounting methodologies for financial institutions globally.
What is the difference between carbon neutral and net-zero emissions?
- Carbon neutral refers to an entity where the carbon emissions caused by them have been offset or balanced by funding an equivalent amount of carbon savings or avoidance elsewhere in the world.
- Carbon savings typically take the form of carbon offsets that prevent a carbon emission from being generated or released into the atmosphere.
- Net-zero emissions refers to an entity that removes carbon from the air equivalent to its emissions. Net-zero requires entities to remove as much carbon as they emit each year. TD will remain carbon neutral, as it has since 2010, while we work towards a target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
What progress have you achieved on climate change so far?
- TD's environmental leadership includes:
- The first North American-based bank to become carbon neutral.
- The first Canadian bank to announce a financial target to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
- The only bank to be engaged in all pilots of the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative's Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures – investing, lending, and insurance.
- A commitment to cleantech investment, including an investment in ArcTern Ventures' Fund II , one of Canada's largest clean technology venture funds.
- Support for startups through the TD Sustainable Future Lab in Waterloo – the region's first cleantech accelerator.
- Establishment of the industry-leading Patents for Startups program, the first of its kind in North America, to help cleantech and other innovative companies protect and patent their applications.
- Issued a US$500 million sustainability bond in 2020, which was the first of its kind in SOFR format. To date, TD has underwritten $21 billion, issued $2.4 billion and purchased approximately $1.3 billion in sustainable bonds.
- The first in the Canadian insurance industry to announce the establishment of an Advisory Board on Climate Change.
- An investment in Canada's largest battery storage project through the TD Greystone Infrastructure Fund.
- The addition of two new mutual funds in 2020 to TD Asset Management Inc.'s sustainability suite (TD North American Sustainability Equity Fund and TD North American Sustainability Balanced Fund).
- Learn more about how TD is helping to create a more vibrant planet.