In its fourth annual Sustainable Finance Awards, Global Finance has named the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) as the Best Bank in the Middle East for ESG-Related Loans in 2024
Global Finance conducts an annual survey recognising global and regional leadership in Sustainable Finance, the criteria of which include governance policies and goals as well as measurable achievements in environmental and social sustainability financing.
Winners were chosen in areas such as:
- Excellence in bond issues,
- Overall sustainability financing,
- Community support,
- Resource management,
- Transparency & reporting,
- Infrastructure, and
- Emerging-markets sustainability funding.
NBK Group, which was spotlighted at the awards, shared that it has undertaken significant measures to embed ESG standards into the core of its business, operational procedures, and corporate culture.
It has also streamlined its ESG strategy, transitioning from a six-pillar approach to a more integrated framework consisting of four interconnected pillars:
- Governance for Resilience,
- Responsible Banking,
- Capitalizing on our Capabilities, and
- Investing in our Communities.
Alongside this, NBK has launched services and products geared towards the green transition process across all its locations, including green mortgage loans, consumer loans for electric vehicles, financing options related to sustainability, and low-emission housing loans.
The Bank outlined that it has also established a target to decrease gross operational emissions by 25 per cent by 2025 compared to the levels recorded in the reference year 2021. Further, its headquarters has achieved gold certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED Gold) accreditation.