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Banks play a crucial role in the global transition to a carbon-neutral economy by providing essential financing for green technology and sustainability initiatives, according to a top executive at the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB).
Speaking during a panel discussion at the Global Water, Energy and Climate Change Congress, NBB Group chief executive Usman Ahmed underscored the bank’s commitment to embedding sustainability throughout its operations.
“Banks play a very critical role in capitalising green technology. We provide the financing; we provide clients the runway to help make that transition to carbon-neutrality,” Mr Ahmed said.
He explained that NBB, as Bahrain’s largest bank, has a comprehensive sustainability framework that starts with its core mission statement and flows into its governance structures.
“From the board level, we have sustainability oversight to a management committee that meets regularly, and most importantly, it is embedded in our strategy,” he said. “It’s not something that sits on the side, but it’s very much embedded in every aspect of how we do business.”
Mr Ahmed highlighted the bank’s sustainable financing framework, spearheaded by its corporate finance unit. “The framework enables us to issue sustainability-linked loans and products. This framework is designed to support projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, and social impact sectors.”
He added, “We essentially offer the full menu of options, and we are totally product-neutral. We’ve deployed that for energy-related companies and for companies here in the aluminium sector, for Alba, and for various other companies.”
For Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), NBB has partnered with the Industry and Commerce Ministry on the Green Factories Seal programme, offering preferential pricing to companies that meet sustainability criteria.
The bank is also focused on retail clients, offering products like sustainability-linked auto-financing, which gives better rates for electric vehicles. Additionally, NBB provides solar panel financing as part of its mortgage packages and is exploring renewable and energy-efficient home improvement loans.
In the education sector, NBB provides corporate financing for new school campuses and offers individual student loans at preferential rates. The bank is also the social housing financier in the kingdom, with flagship programmes in partnership with the Housing Ministry and Eskan Bank.
Mr Ahmed also touched upon the importance of a strong regulatory framework, praising the Central Bank of Bahrain for providing sustainability guidelines.
He added that NBB is dedicated to talent development and capacity building. “We have some very young, motivated, and bright individuals within our organisation that are very focused on a cross-functional basis to develop and embed sustainability within the organisation,” he said.
The bank’s sustainability efforts are also supported by technology, with 93 per cent of its retail accounts now opened digitally, eliminating the use of paper.
“We measure our own emissions very closely, and we have adopted disclosure standards long before they were required,” Mr Ahmed concluded. “It’s a whole host of things that we do, based on initiative, based on innovation, technology and both human and financial capital to help drive this forward.”
The session titled ‘Sustainable Financing: Advancing Investment and Growth for a Green Economy’ convened finance leaders, policymakers, and sustainability leaders at Exhibition World Bahrain to discuss unlocking of investment, management of risks, and designing incentives to support scalable, inclusive, and sustainable growth.
avinash@gdnmedia.bh
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