Enbridge Publishes Sustainability-Linked Bond Framework

The company also releases its 20th annual Sustainability Report

CALGARY, AB, June 17, 2021 /CNW/ - Enbridge Inc. (Enbridge or the Company) (TSX: ENB) (NYSE: ENB) announced today it has published the first Sustainability-Linked Bond Framework (the Framework) in the North American midstream sector, which links its Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) goals to the Company's funding strategy.

With this Framework, Enbridge further strengthens its commitment to achieving the ESG goals it announced on November 6, 2020. These goals include achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and increasing diversity from racial and ethnic groups throughout the Company's workforce, including senior management and the board of directors.

The Framework lays out the principles Enbridge would use in connection with an issuance of sustainability-linked bonds and includes performance indicators that impact the Company's borrowing costs. This creates a direct link between the Company's finance strategies and its ESG goals incenting their achievement.

To ensure transparency, performance indicators associated with achieving the Company's ESG goals will be published and verified annually by an independent auditor. The performance indicators that will be measured include the Company's progress on reducing by 35% the intensity of its scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030, as well as its progress on achieving 28% representation of racial and ethnic groups in its workforce, 40% gender diversity across the organization, and 40% representation of women on its board of directors by 2025.

"Today's announcement further demonstrates Enbridge's commitment to ESG industry leadership," said Colin Gruending, Enbridge's Chief Financial Officer. "Our sustainable financing framework provides transparency to our stakeholders and positions us well to succeed in leading our industry to a more sustainable and inclusive energy future."

Coinciding with the release of the Framework, Enbridge published today its 2020 Sustainability Report, which highlights how the Company is advancing a long-standing approach to sustainability. New in this year's Sustainability Report are metrics established in 2020 to track the emission intensity of the energy transported by the Company and how its investments in renewable natural gas, hydrogen and renewable electricity are advancing the energy transition.

"For the past two decades, we've been committed to integrating sustainability into all that we do, publicly reporting both on our progress and the priority work which remains," said Pete Sheffield, Enbridge's Chief Sustainability Officer. "In our 2020 Sustainability Report, we look back on our ESG performance during a uniquely challenging year for all of our stakeholders. We also look forward, building on our new ESG goals and including new metrics to track the emissions intensity of the energy we deliver, and aligning our financing with our climate goals."

The 2020 Sustainability Report, Sustainability-Linked Bond Framework and related ISS ESG second-party opinion are available on Enbridge.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Forward-looking information, or forward-looking statements, have been included in this news release to provide information about Enbridge Inc. ("Enbridge" or the "Company")  and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including management's assessment of Enbridge and its subsidiaries' future plans and operations. This information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as ''anticipate'', ''expect'', ''project'', ''estimate'', ''forecast'', ''plan'', ''intend'', ''target'', ''believe'', "likely" and similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking information or statements in this news release include statements with respect to energy transition, including Enbridge's approach thereto; environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and targets, including those related to reduction and diversity and inclusion; our plans to achieve our ESG goals and targets and to monitor and report our progress thereon; and Enbridge's corporate finance strategy, including the Sustainability-Linked Bond Framework.

Although Enbridge believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available on the date such statements are made and processes used to prepare the information, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements involve a variety of assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Material assumptions include assumptions about the following: energy transition including the drivers and pace thereof; the COVID-19 pandemic and the duration and impact thereof; the expected supply of, demand for, and prices of crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and renewable energy; anticipated utilization of our existing assets; exchange rates; inflation; interest rates; operational reliability and performance; maintenance of support and regulatory approvals for projects; anticipated in-service dates; changes in legislation, regulations or government policy applicable to our businesses; weather; litigation; impact of capital project execution on the Company's future cash flows; credit ratings; capital project funding; hedging program; financial strength and flexibility; debt and equity market conditions, including the ability to access capital markets on favorable terms or at all; cost of debt and equity capital; economic and competitive conditions; changes in tax laws and tax rates; the development and performance of technology and new energy efficient products, services and programs; long-term energy future scenarios; and successful collaboration with partners and trade associations to advance climate goals. Assumptions regarding the expected supply of and demand for crude oil, natural gas, NGL and renewable energy, and the prices of these commodities, are material to and underlie all forward-looking statements, as they may impact current and future levels of demand for the Company's services. Similarly,  energy transition, including the drivers and pace thereof, the COVID-19 pandemic, exchange rates, inflation and interest rates impact the economies and business environments in which the Company operates and may impact levels of demand for the Company's services and cost of inputs, and are therefore inherent in all forward-looking statements. Due to the interdependencies and correlation of these macroeconomic factors, the impact of any one assumption on a forward-looking statement cannot be determined with certainty.

Enbridge's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to those risks and uncertainties discussed in this news release and in the Company's other filings with Canadian and United States securities regulators. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as these are interdependent and Enbridge's future course of action depends on management's assessment of all information available at the relevant time. Except to the extent required by applicable law, Enbridge assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made in this news release or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Enbridge or persons acting on the Company's behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

This news release does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, an offer to purchase or an invitation to sell securities of Enbridge, or the solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of Enbridge, and nothing contained herein or in the Framework shall form the basis of or be relied on in connection with any contract or commitment. 

About Enbridge Inc.

Enbridge Inc. is a leading North American energy infrastructure company. We safely and reliably deliver the energy people need and want to fuel quality of life. Our core businesses include Liquids Pipelines, which transports approximately 25 percent of the crude oil produced in North America; Gas Transmission and Midstream, which transports approximately 20 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S.; Gas Distribution and Storage, which serves approximately 3.8 million retail customers in Ontario and Quebec; and Renewable Power Generation, which generates approximately 1,763 MW of net renewable power in North America and Europe. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ENB. For more information, visit www.enbridge.com.

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SOURCE Enbridge Inc.