The National Bank of Abu Dhabi is adopting Equator Principles, the global risk-management framework in the financial industry for identifying, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in bank-financed projects. NBAD is the first bank in the UAE to adopt the EP, which is considered the financial industry’s gold standard for sustainable project. The bank’s head of Renewable Energy Nathan Weatherstone said the adoption of the EP resonates with the bank’s core values and demonstrates its leadership on environmentally and socially responsible lending practices. The bank would increasingly focus on the renewable energy sector with the objective of creating value for its core clients and, in so doing, building a profitable venture which addresses their needs and interests, he added. EP are applied to new project financing with capital costs exceeding $10 million across a range of industry sectors, as well as to corporate loans and advisory assignments related to projects.
