Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, a leading Islamic financial institution, has released its first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, highlighting the progress made on the bank’s ESG goals and commitments for the year 2021. The report builds on ADIB’s sustainability Report, which ADIB had been publishing since 2016, according to a statement.

This report details ADIB’s ongoing efforts to address some of society’s greatest challenges and build more sustainable, diverse and equitable communities. It underlines the bank’s goal to embed Islamic values and sustainability at the core of its business and focuses on a wide range of topics, including governance and integrity, customer focus, commitment to the environment and society, community empowerment, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Nasser Al Awadhi, Group Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are proud to present our first ESG report for the year 2021. It was an eventful year for us as we have achieved many milestones and strengthened our business model while putting a greater focus on sustainability by integrating it as a pillar in our new 5-year strategy plan. ESG and sustainability have always been a key element of ADIB’s success. Our new strategy is aligned with the long-term economic interests of our stakeholders and the communities we operate in."

In 2021, ADIB launched ‘Sustainable Future’, a new pillar in its 2025 strategy bolstering its sustainability agenda and accelerating growth in areas that are most pertinent to emerging sustainability opportunities and challenges. The new strategy approach is guided by four pillars that include continuous innovation, a segment focus, digital excellence, and a sustainable future.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. It is aligned to the UAE Vision 2021 as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Among the many ESG initiatives, this report covers key highlights from the past year.

ADIB is committed to the growth prosperity of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, supporting the UAE’s sustainability objectives, UAE Green Agenda 2015-2030, and the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. ADIB is a signatory to the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration which supports sustainable financing for economic development.

At ADIB, the corporate governance model ensures transparency, accountability, and resilience. The existing governance structure is aligned with the bank’s recently launched new strategy, framework, and policy. Enabling innovation is another area of focus, continuing with the digitalisation journey and ensuring a strong governance and control measures for fraud management.

The bank has received 4 LEED certificates for green buildings in 2021. ADIB has embedded a sustainable future as a key pillar in its 5-year strategy plan and has announced its commitment to focus on launching an ESG strategy that helps banks transition to a low carbon operation and leverage on ADIB’s commitment to social responsibility.

Its national presence, innovation, relevance, and Shari'a compliant business model provides the right banking solutions for the customers.

The bank has been rated A by the MSCI ESG index and has participated in 11 green financing transactions.

Some of the key projects that the bank enabled and contributed to in 2020 and 2021 included funding US$103.5 million to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) solar project. As per ACWA POWER, the project is expected to power 270,000 homes and offset carbon emissions amounting to 1.18 million tonnes per year in Dubai.

ADIB supported Al Dharfa Project, the world’s largest single-site solar power plant, by providing an Equity Bridge Loan for the project financing. It will use approximately four million solar panels to generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes and will help achieve a reduction of 2.4 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

The bank also funded the Jubail water treatment project in Saudi Arabia that will substantially contribute to the kingdom’s efforts to ensure water security.

ADIB's Al Ghaf Paperless Initiative in 2021 helped in reducing the bank’s carbon footprint tangibly and helped save over two million sheets of paper in its first year of implementation. In addition, the Bank made a positive impact on communities through employee volunteering programmes and participated in various environmental initiatives.

Last year, ADIB was one of the banks that partnered with the Ministry of Interior’s Faraj Fund to implement a humanitarian campaign and initiatives that contributed to the release of insolvent inmates convicted with financial cases. The bank also supports Emiratis by planning mass weddings since we understand that marriage can be financially exhaustive for young people. In 2021, 100 couples got married through ADIB’s support.

ADIB launched a number of initiatives, such as the first digital Islamic bank for youth, "Amwali", to provide greater access to banking for youth and empower them to make better financial decisions, and "Business Connect", a new account package targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that prefer doing digital banking transactions.

Recognising the importance of a diverse workforce, the bank understands the positive impact of women who make up about 35 percent of its workforce.