Sustainability Performance
Risk Management

A core focus will be accelerating our efforts to mitigate our Scope 3 financed emissions in line with the methodology set out by Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)8. This reinforces our role as a signatory to the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) and an early adopter of the methodology in the MENA region. An active participant in regional PCAF calls, the Bank continues to advocate for the development of a standardised approach towards trade finance categories, including accounts receivables, letters of credit and other related instruments, given the core composition of its lending book.

We will finalise the calculation of our Scope 3 financed emissions and evaluate our approach to mitigate those emissions. We recognise that any Scope 3 reduction strategy will largely depend on our clients’ transition pathways and their progress in reducing their own emissions and therefore requires close client engagement as we work with our customers, notably our high emitting clients, to support their transition strategies.

By combining the measurement of our Scope 3 financed emissions with the application of our Client ESG Risk Assessment, we gain a more comprehensive view of our clients’ approach to decarbonisation efforts. While Scope 3 financed emissions provide a ‘point-in-time’ snapshot of current exposure, they do not indicate future performance. In contrast, our Client ESG Risk Assessment takes a forward-looking approach, allowing us to evaluate the credibility of our client’s emission reduction plans and, by extension, the Bank’s potential to lower our Scope 3 financed emissions over time.