Bridging the Global Climate Finance Gap
A key element of our strategy is accelerating the delivery of sustainable and transition finance through proactive client engagement. Bank ABC’s expansive global footprint, innovative products, and expertise position us uniquely to partner with our clients to finance the energy transition. Sustainable finance activities encompass green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked financing while transition finance focuses on supporting high-emitting clients in their decarbonisation journeys. We believe we can generate greater impact by working closely with these clients to support their transitions.
In 2024, we mobilised US$2.8 billion in sustainable finance, a 24% rise on the amount provided in 2023. This equates to 15% of our outstanding loans and advances as of year-end 2024. Most notable, is the Bank’s ability to mobilise capital and close the climate funding gap across emerging markets. In 2024, almost 90% of our sustainable finance was directed towards emerging markets, a similar level to the previous year. This high percentage is in sharp contrast to global trends where the bulk of green finance remains concentrated in the developed world. Bank ABC’s high allocation of sustainable finance to the global south is driven by our ability to leverage our unique geographical footprint across the GCC, North Africa, Turkey, Brazil and Southeast Asia.
Strengthening our Capability
Recognising that financial capital alone is not enough, we continue to strengthen our internal capabilities and empower our employees to champion sustainability in every aspect of their lives. Over the last year, we launched a global sustainability training programme with our client-facing teams to build capacity and awareness on these topics, ahead of rolling-out several new initiatives, including the incorporation of a Client ESG Risk Assessment into our lending process. These new processes should provide valuable insights, deepen client relationships and accelerate the deployment of sustainable and transition finance solutions.
To support these initiatives, we expanded our team of sustainability specialists across the Bank’s global network. We now have sixteen dedicated sustainability experts across strategic locations: Bahrain, Brazil, Egypt, Tunisia, Paris, and London. This expansion underscores our commitment to incorporate sustainability across our geographies to capture the full value of our sustainability strategy.
Global Impact
Bank ABC also plays a wider role in supporting the transition, not just the provision of finance, by working with our clients, communities and other organisations to unlock innovative solutions. We are actively engaged with policymakers and regulators across our jurisdictions to pre-empt the dynamic regulatory landscape, to support and shape these evolving frameworks and ensure we stay ahead of stringent requirements. Despite Europe’s move to roll back some of its corporate sustainability disclosure requirements, its ESG regulatory requirements remain amongst the most stringent. At the same time, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 and S2 are being increasingly adopted as the global standard for corporate sustainability disclosures. Across our countries of presence, policymakers in Brazil, Turkey and Jordan have already adopted IFRS, with the UK and Singapore reviewing it for likely adoption.
