KUWAIT: In conjunction with its ongoing commitment to advancing sustainability as a foundational pillar of its operations and corporate culture, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a comprehensive two-day Sustainability training program for its employees across various functions. The core objective of the training was to empower its people with the requisite knowledge and skills to better understand the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the fundamentals of sustainability reporting in line with NBK’s ESG Strategy.
This initiative was carried out in collaboration with DCarbon, the GRI certified training partner in the MENA region, demonstrating NBK's steadfast dedication to building a sustainable economy. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting framework is the most trusted and widely used sustainability framework globally. GRI Standards are used universally to measure and report economic, environmental, and social performance. Thousands of companies and organizations of different sizes and industries apply GRI's guidelines as an integral part of their core strategies to scale up their positive impact and value.
Throughout the training program, Dr Ehab Shalaby, Chairman at DCarbon, provided a comprehensive overview encompassing the purpose and structure of the GRI Standards. Through a series of interactive sessions, presentations, and case studies, participants gained a comprehensive understanding of the standards’ core principles, reporting requirements, and guidelines, addressing different types of organizations. Throughout the program, participants acquired a profound comprehension of how international sustainability practices and reporting frameworks, like the upcoming sustainability standards of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), align with NBK's long-term ESG objectives and ambitions.
Participants also developed the skills to identify and evaluate ESG-related impacts on the Bank’s various key stakeholders. NBK views stakeholder engagement as an important priority across its business practices for defining the Bank’s material ESG topics and guiding its ESG strategy and reporting. NBK continues to integrate ESG and sustainability practices into its business strategies to further strengthen risk management, decision-making and long-term value creation. Through comprehensively designed training programs, the Bank strives to empower its employees' dedication and commitment to embedding sustainability through every facet of its operations.
NBK continues to lead in its unwavering commitment to strengthening sustainability throughout its operations and corporate culture. This ongoing progress has been achieved through a range of initiatives, more recently its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 and reducing operational emissions by 25 percent by 2025. NBK recognizes its responsibility in mobilizing capital to solve specific environmental and social challenges, thereby advancing societal transition to a more sustainable and equitable low carbon economy.
To that extent, the Bank developed and launched its Sustainable Financing Framework and furthered its commitment to environmental transparency by disclosing its environmental impact through CDP. Building on the strong foundations it established, NBK intends to continue with taking the necessary steps to drive equitable and sustainable socio-economic growth. Key highlights of NBK's ESG achievements in its efforts to strengthen the foundation of sustainability:
• Committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2060. • Established interim goals to reduce gross operational emissions by 25 percent by 2025. • Launched the NBK Sustainable Financing Framework. • Transformed its ESG Strategy to higher levels of ESG integration across the Group’s operations and activities. • Joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). • Achieved significant progress in women's participation in the workforce, as well as Board gender diversity. • Disclosed its environmental impact through CDP for both the Climate Change and Forests Categories across the Financial Services Sector.