^{Sustainability} Frequently Asked Questions

Our sustainability strategy is based on a GRI-compliant stakeholder engagement and materiality assessment, and is aligned to the UN SDGs.

The strategy consists of four strategic priorities: Climate, Customers and Communities, Employees, and Governance. Each of these pillars consists of four workstreams to clearly pinpoint the initiatives we are seeking to address. Our commitments to each of these workstreams is formalised within a publicly available policy and a new governance framework with Board oversight to drive implementation. Furthermore, this new sustainability strategy now forms a core pillar of our overarching corporate strategy requiring fortnightly updates to the Executive Management-led SteerCo.

The UAE has ratified the Paris Agreement and submitted its National Determined Contributions (NDCs) under which it has defined Federal and Emirate-level targets to address climate change.

As part of its-long-term commitment to lowering GHG emissions, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), had recently announced the National Net Zero by 2050 Pathway at COP27 with interim targets and sector-specific emission reductions plans. The Ministry is expected to also issue supporting policies and enablers as part of its long term low GHG emission development strategy.

ADCB will contribute via its commitment to facilitate AED 35 billion to green financing by 2030 to support our customers’ decarbonisation journey. This is in line with our approved strategic purpose to, ‘Support the transition to an inclusive, net zero economy’ – demonstrating the buy-in at a senior management level.

In addition, ADCB is amongst the 25 founding signatory companies to the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration in 2019, alongside the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, UAE Central Bank, Abu Dhabi Global Market, Securities and Commodities Authority, and our clients.

The climate pillar of our strategy, and underlying workstreams, is how ADCB aligns with the UAE Environment Vision 2030. This encompasses:

Sustainable finance

ESRM

Green supply chain and procurement

Net zero in operations

We have a commitment to achieve net zero emissions in operation and are working to define our roadmap to this goal, including credible offsetting. In addition, we do recognise the importance of ‘financed emissions’ and aligning our portfolios with the Paris Agreement.

We also understand the challenges regarding data availability at a counterparty level, and evolving scenarios/pathways. This year we have taken an important first step by assessing our top corporate clients for net zero ambitions and public GHG disclosures.

We will seek to measure our portfolio-level financed emissions in accordance with the widely adopted Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) Standard.

In future, we will endeavor to set and disclose net zero targets that align with the UAE net zero ambition.

Our Group-wide sustainability strategy is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals SDG, for more details please refer to our strategic priorities found here.

Yes, ADCB actively participate in the following industry-wide initiatives to discuss ESG-related topics:

• The UAE Sustainable Finance Declaration Working Group convened by Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM). This includes updates and engagement from the three WG’s set up by the UAE GOV at COP26: disclosures/taxonomy/governance
• ADCB is a member of UBF Islamic Finance / ESG and other working groups
• We have also been invited to participate in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG), a forum convened by the Government Environment Agency which promotes sustainability learning and knowledge-sharing opportunities for government, private companies and not-for-profit organisations in Abu Dhabi
• ADCB participated in COP 27 at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt as part of the multi-stakeholder delegation from the UAE and continues to seek opportunities for collaboration with the members of the delegation including the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) and the Office of the UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change. Following these efforts, ADCB also took part in COP28, which has been successfully concluded in the UAE

We are currently developing the process to integrate climate risks into our ESRM framework and next year will bring reporting in alignment with TCFD for the first time.

We are committed to the Paris Agreement and UAE’s strategic ambition of net zero emissions by 2050. We play an active role in supporting our customers’ transition to a low carbon economy through our products and services and recognise the importance of external collaborations to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable financial markets.

Under the climate pillar of the ADCB sustainability strategy, all four workstreams contribute towards the objective of the Paris Agreement.

Sustainability is integrated into ADCB’s governance starting with the Board Executive Committee (BEC), which provides board-level oversight.

The Group Sustainability Committee (GSC) – a tier 1 committee within the Bank (demonstrating its importance) is responsible for setting the ADCB sustainability strategy and ensuring its implementation within relevant core business functions. This encompasses strategic commitments, policies, targets and KPIs, reporting and disclosures, communications and training.

The GSC is chaired by the Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO) and consists of members of the Management Executive Committee (MEC) to ensure senior management accountability for embedding sustainable business practices into their respective teams’ ways of working. The GSC is the main decision-making body for all matters related to the Group Sustainability Strategy. The GSC reports progress to MEC, and subsequently the BEC.

The GSC is supported by a Group Sustainability Team (GST), with the Head of Sustainability reporting to the GCFO. The GST is responsible for: identifying, proposing and managing strategic initiatives; capturing data and reporting to stakeholders; providing daily support to teams across the Bank with subject matter expertise; setting common standards and policies; and building the culture of sustainable thinking across the organisation. The GST makes recommendations to the GSC, including the proposal of working groups required with specific mandates to address key risks or opportunities to the business. The GST acts as the secretariat to the GSC.

The GST works closely with Sustainability Business Partners (SBPs) who have been identified across business departments in the organisation, including each subsidiary to ensure bank-wide engagement on sustainability-related topics.

Scope of reporting: We publish annual ESG reports which includes information about the ESG performance of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, and all its subsidiaries, branches and representative offices within and outside of the UAE.

Reporting standards: We disclose relevant information on material sustainability topics as per international and national reporting standards and guidelines, including GRI Standards, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) ‘Industry Standards’, Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) ESG Disclosure Guidance for Listed Companies, and the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) sustainability disclosure requirements.

E&S risk oversight sits within the Bank’s overall broader risk governance structure. ADCB’s ESRM framework is an integral part of its enterprise risk management framework. The Board Risk Committee (BRC) sets strategic direction and approves the Group-wide ESRM policy. The Risk Management Committee (RMC) and the Group Sustainability Committee ensure effective implementation across business and risk teams.