Emirates NBD Wins Award as First Bank to Publish Standalone IFRS S1/S2 Report

Emirates NBD has been recognised at the Sustainable Investment Awards 2026 by Environmental Finance for its ESG reporting, credited as the first bank globally to publish a standalone report aligned with the IFRS S1 and S2 disclosure standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board. The bank's 2025 ESG report also incorporated disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and Global Reporting Initiative standards, alongside introducing the bank's first net-zero transition plan aligned with Transition Plan Taskforce guidance.

 

Publishing a standalone report specifically aligned with IFRS S1 and S2, rather than folding ISSB-aligned disclosures into a broader annual or sustainability report, is a distinct choice that signals the bank treating these standards as a dedicated reporting requirement in their own right rather than a supplementary section within existing disclosure documents. The IFRS S1 and S2 standards, covering general sustainability-related financial disclosures and climate-specific disclosures respectively, have been adopted or are being adopted across a growing number of jurisdictions globally as the emerging benchmark for corporate sustainability reporting.

 

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The bank's expanded disclosure architecture also incorporates the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a newer framework focused on how nature-related risks and dependencies affect financial performance, extending beyond the climate-focused disclosures that have dominated ESG reporting to date into a broader assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem-related financial risk. The introduction of a net-zero transition plan aligned with Transition Plan Taskforce guidance gives the bank a structured, externally benchmarked framework for describing how it intends to reach its stated climate targets, rather than a target alone without a defined implementation pathway.

 

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Vijay Bains, chief sustainability officer and group head of ESG at Emirates NBD, said the recognition reflected the bank's pioneering efforts in environmental stewardship, framing the expanded reporting as giving corporate clients and investors a credible basis to assess the bank's climate-related risks and long-term resilience. Group Chief Financial Officer Patrick Sullivan described ESG reporting as a core driver of financial resilience and investor confidence rather than solely a regulatory milestone, tying the disclosure framework directly to the bank's financial governance and capital deployment decisions.

 

Source: Emirates NBD