FAB becomes first MENA bank to publish a climate report in alignment with TCFD framework

FAB

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

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

FAB’s TCFD Aligned Climate Report outlines the bank’s progress on its four key themes: governance model, strategy, ability to manage risks, and reports on key metrics and targets related to climate change.

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

FAB has made significant advances across the four thematic areas:

Governance: Climate risk is governed across the organisation including at the Board level and throughout active committees. Strategy: Climate is embedded across the bank’s strategy through transition finance for net zero and sustainable finance targets for 2030. FAB’s scenario analysis informs the bank’s potential climate risk exposure. Risk Management: ESG risk identification and assessment is covered under FAB’s group-wide ESG Risk Framework and reviewed annually. Metrics and Targets: Since 2019, FAB has monitored its Scope 1 and 2 emissions and has set financed emissions targets, which cover 90 percent of the bank’s portfolio emissions by 2030.

Shargiil Bashir, Chief Sustainability Officer at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), said, “Adoption of the TCFD recommendations is an important step for FAB, as it enables us to recognise, assess, and disclose the risks and opportunities related to climate change. This standardisation in reporting builds a process and mechanism for response, as climate risk is measured and therefore can be managed more effectively. With a more holistic view into the financial impact of climate change, we’re also able to support our clients by ensuring they are better prepared to meet the challenges of decarbonisation as well as the opportunities that arise from the transition to net zero. At the same time, the adoption of this framework helps to build resilience throughout the entire financial ecosystem and right across the UAE’s 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 net zero by 2050. FAB is also a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) as well as the Principles for Carbon Accounting (PCAF), and most recently the COP28 Net Zero Transition Charter, among other internationally recognised initiatives.