MANAMA: National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has ranked first in the banking sector in Bahrain for Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) ratings list by ESG Invest.
ESG Invest evaluates and scores the ESG performance of more than 700 companies in the Middle East across nine regional markets across 43 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria spanning 140 quantitative and qualitative KPIs.
NBB was also ranked second within all the kingdom’s sectors, and is the only representative of Bahrain in the Refinitiv Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) Low Carbon Select Index.
The ESG ranking comes as part of NBB’s continuous efforts to enhance ESG operational capacity in order to create a more sustainable and responsible mode of banking, and continues to bolster its efforts towards becoming a regionally recognised sustainable banking and financial entity in line with its objectives to be a recognised leader in the field.
Additionally, the Refinitiv AFE Low Carbon Select Index offers an innovative benchmark for investors wishing to commit capital to companies that actively invest in and promote low carbon activities within their organisations and, hence, contribute to lower the carbon footprint of the region.
Commenting on the recognition, NBB chief executive Jean-Christophe Durand said, “NBB is pleased to be recognised for our ongoing efforts to adhere to world-class best practices by adopting ESG into our organisation. Accordingly, we’ve decided to consolidate the bank’s ongoing activities under the larger umbrella of ESG, and the natural next step is to integrate environmental factors into our organisation, and look forward to a cleaner, more streamlined method of operation in line with the policies and methods adopted within the ESG framework.”
Bahrain Bourse chief executive Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said, “I would like to congratulate NBB and we are glad to see an increase in awareness towards ESG and the adoption of ESG reporting and disclosures, as it serves to support Bahrain Bourse’s efforts to promote sustainability and transparency in Bahrain’s capital market.”
AFE secretary general Rami El-Dokany said, “The AFE would like to congratulate NBB on this achievement. As the only representative of Bahrain in the Refinitiv AFE Low Carbon Index, NBB has 0.89pc of total index weight. With the banking sector comprising 50pc of index constituents, we hope to have more Bahraini and Arab companies included in promoting ESG reporting and transparency in the future.”
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