NBB Group launches ESG Academy

TDT | Manama             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

In partnership with the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), the NBB Group, comprising of the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), launched an internal Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Academy for its employees.

The ESG Academy aims to spread awareness about sustainability themes and practices amongst the Group’s internal stakeholders, in line with its ambitious sustainability roadmap. The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Dr Mohamed bin Dainah, Minister of Oil and Environment, Special Envoy for Climate Affairs and Farouk Al Moayyed, Chairman of the National Bank of Bahrain and representatives from both entities.

Dr Mohamed bin Dainah, Minister of Oil and Environment, Special Envoy for Climate Affairs, reiterated this a vital step towards building basic knowledge and achieving collective cooperation between the Kingdom’s various sectors, in line with the strategy and goals set by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, at COP26, to enable the Kingdom to reach its net-zero goals.

The Minister of Oil and Environment, said that the academy will train NBB Group’s employees and members of NBB’s Sustainability Committee on various areas of ESG practices. NBB Group is also partnering with several entities such as the Bahrain Institute for Banking and Finance (BIBF), the Sustainability Knowledge Group, and Bahrain Bourse to develop a set of programmes focused on ESG for its employees.

Dana Buheji, Group Chief Human Resources & Sustainability Officer at NBB, said the collaboration with the Supreme Council for Environment is a vital step in elevating the ESG knowledge of the bank’s most valuable asset, its employees, Through its partnership with the SCE, the NBB Group will leverage the Supreme Council’s knowledge and expertise in the ESG field through a series of awareness and knowledge-building seminars.

A range of topics will be covered related to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s sustainability development goals, the national sustainability projects, and the Group’s necessary alignment and contribution to help achieve the vision and strategic goals of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and its candidacy represented in the ESG field globally.

The SCE-led programmes will also touch on Adaptation Action in Bahrain, Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss, Bahrain’s Road to Net-Zero by 2060 and the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol.