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MENAT banking group Emirates NBD has assumed the role of Co-Chair of the MENA Chapter of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF).

PCAF is an initiative led by the financial industry aimed at developing a harmonised global standard to measure and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions of loans and investments.

Vijay Bains, Group Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of ESG, will represent the bank as Co-Chair.

Emirates NBD said that its new role will facilitate greater collaboration between financial institutions that have already committed to PCAF, providing a centralised platform for cooperation in the MENA region.

“I am proud to represent Emirates NBD as the Co-Chair of the PCAF MENA Chapter. As one of the largest financial institutions in the MENAT region, we are always exploring diverse ways to enhance our commitment towards environmental stewardship,” commented Vijay Bains, Group Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of ESG at Emirates NBD.

“As investors and stakeholders increasingly demand greater transparency and accountability from the financial industry associated with their financial activity, Emirates NBD has a significant role in enabling responsible assessment and disclosure of the carbon footprint of our portfolios,” added Bains.

The initiative has a membership of more than 500 financial institutions across six continents.

Emirates NBD joined the PCAF in 2023.

Earlier this year, the Banking on Climate Chaos report found that since the Paris Agreement in 2016, the world’s 60 largest private banks financed fossil fuels with USD $6.9 trillion.

QNB Group has joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), making it the first bank in Qatar to do so.

The partnership, developed by the Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry, was created in 2015 and launched globally back in 2019. To date, the partnership’s membership spans 500 financial institutions from six continents.

The industry-led initiative was established with the aim of enabling financial institutions to consistently measure and disclose the GHG emissions financed by their loans and investments, otherwise known as financed emissions.

Estimates from the CDP have put the finance sector’s financed emissions at over 700 times greater than its own.

According to the bank, the PCAF membership facilitates the bank’s measurement of greenhouse gas emissions arising from its loans and investments, setting the standard, providing guidance, building capacity, and providing technical support and access to an emission-factor database.

Commenting on the bank joining the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, Fatima Abdulla Al-Suwaidi, QNB Group Chief Risk Officer, commented: “We are proud to be the first bank in Qatar to join PCAF and to be joining a global group of financial institutions committed to disclosing the greenhouse gas emissions of their financial activities.

“We consider this an important milestone, which will underpin our approach to future disclosures, and climate-related target setting. QNB will partner with PCAF to promote the use of consistent, industry best practice standards in support of the sustainability agenda to which we are committed.”

carbon accounting

Emirates NBD Becomes Co-Chair of PCAF MENA Chapter

QNB Group Joins Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials