Embracing sustainability in the bank’s operations and operating environment has become an integral part of its corporate culture

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Group Operations always seeks to actively support the bank’s sustainability agenda and drive the transition to a sustainable and low-carbon economy. In this context, Group Operations announced achieving significant progress in this regard, by saving about 1.7 million papers across its operations within 3 years, which is equivalent to saving hundreds of trees.

NBK Group Operations has also implemented a number of key initiatives over the past period, which aim to reduce paper use by saving about half a million papers annually in remittance and Treasury operations, as well as raising awareness about energy optimization and water conservation.

On this occasion, Mr. Mohammad Al-Kharafi, Group Operations Head, National Bank of Kuwait said: “NBK Group Operations is the key driver of digital transformation strategy adopted by the bank many years ago. This has been done by using cutting-edge technology and advanced solutions including Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Smart Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which effectively contributes to significant reduction in paper usage and minimization of carbon emissions.”

Al-Kharafi added that all NBK departments are involved in supporting the bank’s relentless efforts to achieve the main goal of reducing operational emissions by 25% by 2025, and increasing renewable energy dependency.

Embracing sustainability in the bank’s operations and operating environment has become an integral part of the corporate culture adopted by its employees who contribute to this transformation and strive to implement its vision to reach net zero operating emissions by 2035, he emphasized.

Al-Kharafi noted that, in line with its endeavors to promote the sustainability culture, NBK organizes many campaigns to encourage self-service and minimizing branch visits, as well as the use of contact centers and banking channels to reduce the carbon footprint. In addition, it constantly evaluates and analyzes the environmental impacts of its business and operations and discloses the same in related reports.

It is worth mentioning that as part of its sustainability strategy aimed at reducing net emissions and increasing renewable and clean energy dependency, NBK announced that it is ramping up its efforts aimed at transforming its branch network to be environmentally friendly. This included installing solar panels as a supplemental source of energy in its local branches.

NBK has recently made great strides on the sustainability front, including the new Headquarters’ LEED Gold certification, with a total score of 67 points. Moreover, the bank was included in the Refinitiv AFE Low Carbon Select Index in MENA.