FAB becomes the first MENA bank to publish a climate report aligned with the TCFD framework

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has become the first MENA bank to publish a climate report aligned with the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

The TCFD standard, promoted by the Financial Stability Board since 2015, encourages entities to specify the resilience of their strategies to climate-related risks (physical and transitional) and opportunities. The report fulfills FAB’s 2019 commitment to agree to adopt TCFD recommendations in its reporting and disclosure processes.

FAB’s TCFD-aligned Climate Report outlines the bank’s progress across its four key themes: governance model, strategy, ability to manage risks, and reporting on key metrics and objectives related to climate change.

The framework should help FAB investors and other key stakeholders understand how the bank considers and assesses climate-related risks and opportunities.

The FAB has made significant progress in all four thematic areas:

• Governance: Climate risk is governed throughout the organization, including at the level of the Board of Directors and active committees.
• Strategy: Climate is integrated into the bank’s strategy through transition financing to achieve net zero emissions and sustainable financing targets by 2030. FAB’s scenario analysis informs the bank’s potential climate risk exposure.
• Risk management: The identification and assessment of ESG risks is covered by FAB’s group-wide ESG Risk Framework and is reviewed annually.
• Metrics and objectives: Since 2019, FAB has monitored its Scope 1 and 2 emissions and set financed emissions targets, covering 90 percent of the bank’s portfolio emissions by 2030.

Shargiil Bashir, Chief Sustainability Officer at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)saying,

“Adopting the TCFD recommendations is an important step for the FAB, as it allows us to recognize, assess and disclose the risks and opportunities related to climate change. This standardization in reporting creates a process and response mechanism, as climate risk is measured and can therefore be managed more effectively. With a more holistic view of the financial impact of climate change, we can also support our clients by ensuring they are better prepared to meet the challenges of decarbonisation, as well as the opportunities arising from the transition to net zero emissions. At the same time, the adoption of this framework helps build resilience across the entire financial ecosystem and the entire UAE economy.”

FAB’s alignment with TCFD recommendations follows a series of climate-related milestones by the bank. In October 2021, FAB joined the industry-led, UN-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) and in doing so became the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bank to commit to the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. FAB is also a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), as well as the Carbon Accounting Principles (PCAF) and, more recently, the Net Zero Transition Charter of COP28, among other internationally recognized initiatives.

News source: Emirates News Agency