Sustainability

Passion, Integrity, Conservatism, and Knowledge - our core values - have been an integral part of our business strategies, decisions, and relationships. In addition to providing superb financial services, we strive relentlessly to bring about measurable economic, social and environmental benefits to our region. We attempt to support numerous social initiatives that attain economic prosperity, protect our environment and people, and thus build healthy communities.

National Bank of Kuwait (International) PLC ("NBK-London") has made great strides in its ESG efforts, reflecting the Group's promise to create and deliver shared value to all our stakeholders. Our ESG strategy follows four interrelated pillars designed to reinforce our position as a trusted leader in the emerging business environments of the future. On behalf of the Board of Directors, and at this turning point in NBK-London's journey as a responsible bank, I am proud to present to you our recent achievements and developments in ESG.

Bassem Boustany
Managing Director

Following the finalisation of the ESG materiality assessment, NBK-London has made notable progress on its top 10 ESG priorities. This progress is tracked and governed by an ESG sub-committee of the Executive Management Committee. In addition, ESG is a standing agenda item at quarterly Board meetings with relevant specialist subject matter being considered at Risk and Audit Committee level where appropriate. The execution of the ESG is monitored and reported at several levels within the Bank's governance structure which has ensured sufficient priority being given to this corporate strategy.

NBK-London recognises its duty to operate in a socially conscious manner and acknowledges its responsibilities towards society, community, economy and environmental stewardship. An important area in terms of social awareness is the investment in NBK-London's local community. To this end, NBK-London made donations to two local food banks as well as contributed towards a festive toy drive. In FY2024, the Bank plans to further develop its Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR") programme with staff engagement resulting in the selection of the annual theme of "Children & Youth Charities". Planned social engagement activities for FY2024 include a strategic partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which will support Inner London youth to participate in this life-changing programme. 

NBK-London continues to progress its Diversity and Inclusion ("DI") agenda with considerable progress planned in this area in the coming years. The advancement of this priority is governed by an internal group comprised of NBK-London Staff across the various areas of diversity.

NBK-London undertook an assessment of its operational footprint, resulting in plans to establish various energy saving and reduction of emissions measures. It is the intention of the Bank to monitor and report on the reduction of energy use and emissions annually.

ESG will remain an important area of focus for NBK-London in the coming years, with Executive Management and the Board overseeing and ensuring the embedding of ESG priorities throughout operations. NBK-London is committed to further developing its ESG-linked activities and will continue to broaden its endeavours across the facets of ESG.

NBK-London's leadership is committed to its sustainability journey and views sustainability as integral to business performance. Our ESG Strategy focuses on promoting economic prosperity and serving as a model for sustainable development, organised around four pillars: Governance for Resilience; Responsible Banking; Capitalising on our Capabilities; and Investing in our Communities.