METRICS AND TARGETS
Operational emissions Our developing approach to climate change begins with a focus to ensure that our operations are managed responsibly to mitigate and reduce our direct impact on the environment. Our operational emissions disclosures are developed using GHG Protocol guidance (1) and include Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, resulting from carbon-producing activities at our locations primarily related to electricity and natural gas usage, as well as Scope 3, Business Travel emissions. Since 2017, we have estimated our Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in alignment with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for the Alberta Capital Region, and in 2022, we expanded the scope to include all our corporate office space and banking centre network across our entire national footprint. Our estimated total 2023 Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions of 5,800 tCO 2 e were primarily driven by our Alberta-based corporate office space and banking centres.
(1) Including the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard.
Operational emissions reduction target For the Alberta Capital Region, we had previously set absolute emissions reduction targets of 15% by 2025 and 25% by 2035, based on our fiscal 2017 baseline. In 2022, our total Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions for the Alberta Capital Region were 29% lower compared to 2017, exceeding both targets, and we committed to developing a comprehensive reduction plan and target for our entire national footprint to replace the Alberta Capital Region targets, using a 2022 base year. Leveraging the guidance provided by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for absolute contraction targets in line with a 1.5 o C pathway, CWB has committed to the following target to replace the previous Alberta Capital Region-specific target:
CWB commits to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 (market-based) GHG emissions 42% by 2030 from a 2022 base year.
This target was approved by the ESG Steering Committee and reviewed by the Board of Directors. 2022 was chosen as the base year in the development of our reduction plan and targets as it is the most recent year with complete data and limited assurance. The SBTi guidance recommends that base year emissions “be reflective of a company’s typical GHG profile”. Our 2022 emissions are reflective of our typical GHG profile in most ways, except for our workforce working remotely for a greater percentage of 2022 due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic than we expect will be the case going forward. The impact of increased work from offices is expected to be small and should be offset by increased energy efficiency measures. The GHG Protocol also requires a policy that defines the circumstances and thresholds that would trigger a baseline recalculation. For Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, CWB has a significance threshold of 5% (i.e., a change of more than 5% to overall emissions) in cases of structural or methodology changes to trigger re-calculation of the base year, applicable to both GHG emissions increases and decreases. Financed emissions In 2023 we have started to disclose select Scope 3 emissions estimates for the first time, including 2023 business travel, and estimates for 2022 financed emissions related to two lending portfolios. At this time, we do not have a target related to Scope 3 GHG emissions reduction, and our focus is on improving the scope and data quality of our financed emissions estimates. At the same time, we will continue to investigate opportunities to support our clients in achieving their sustainability goals, which will have a positive impact on our Scope 3 emissions impact over time.
68 2023 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT
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