First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has announced that it will lend, invest and facilitate more than $135 billion (AED500 billion) in sustainable and transition financing by 2030.
The new target, an 80% increase over FAB’s 2021 commitment of $75 billion represents the largest sustainable finance commitment made by any financial institution in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to date.
The commitment by the Abu Dhabi bank represents over half of the combined pledge of $270 billion made by banks in the UAE towards sustainable finance pledge made by the UAE Banks Federation on finance day at COP28.
FAB will expand its target to include transition financing projects and early-stage innovative climate solutions. The expansion underscores the banking’s commitment to be a key enabler of the regional sustainable finance agenda and its responsiveness to shifting customer and community priorities.
“FAB is deeply integrated into the UAE’s ambition on climate change and net zero, placing sustainability at the heart of social and economic progress. Across the group, we believe in the urgency to scale investments and financing, as the foundation of climate action,” said Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of FAB.
FAB’s sustainable finance has created a positive impact in the UAE, the broader MENA region and globally. Since 2021, the bank has facilitated more than $27 billion as of September-end 2023 in sustainable projects towards renewable energy, clean transportation, green buildings and social projects.
The group’s expanded portfolio will include transition financing in addition to purely green financing. It will also include early-stage innovative solutions to climate change such as hydrogen.
FAB’s sustainable finance projects since 2021 are diversified across geographies, with 57% in the UAE, 21% in Saudi Arabia, 11% in Singapore, 5% in Bahrain, and the remainder in Europe, the Americas and South Asia. Over 86% has been disbursed through conventional financing; and 14% via Islamic financing.
The enhanced target is the latest in FAB’s numerous sustainability milestones. In October 2021, FAB joined the industry-led and UN-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), becoming the first GCC bank to commit to net zero by 2050.
