Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Trkiye) region, has joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), advancing the bank’s sustainable journey.

PCAF is an initiative led by the financial industry to develop a harmonised global standard to measure and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions of loans and investments. Measuring financed emissions is an important step in a financial institution’s journey towards decarbonisation.

More than 430 financial institutions across six continents have joined PCAF, enabling reporting of emissions on a comparable basis.

Vijay Bains, Group Chief Sustainability Officer and Group Head of ESG at Emirates NBD, said, ‘The financial industry has a significant role in promoting the decarbonisation of the economy. Joining the PCAF is a valuable step in Emirates NBD’s sustainability journey enabling responsible assessment and disclosure of the carbon footprint of our portfolios. As one of the largest financial instituti
ons in the MENAT, we are keen on demonstrating carbon offsetting initiatives that align with the interests of our customers.’

The bank leads the region in offering carbon future contracts trading, fulfilling growing demand from corporations to manage their carbon emissions offsetting and align with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 action plan. Emirates NBD’s carbon contract trading further aligns with the guidelines set by the European Union’s Emission Trading System and the United Kingdom’s Emission Trading Scheme, providing full transparency, credibility and accountability.

Emirates NBD recently established a Sustainable Finance Framework to be able to issue Sustainable Finance Instruments to finance and refinance projects which enable the transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy, and/or provide positive societal impact and to mitigate social problems.

Further, all these initiatives have positioned the bank to win the award for ‘Best Bank for ESG in the UAE’ at the Euromoney Awards for Excellen
ce 2023.

Source: Emirates News Agency