Dubai, UAE — Mashreq Bank, the oldest privately-owned bank in the UAE, has facilitated $15.5 billion in sustainable finance, Joe Van Dusen, Group Head of Corporate & Investment Banking at Mashreq, said on Tuesday.
In a statement in January, the bank said that the finance was facilitated between Jan 2021 and Dec 2022 in addition to wastewater treatment projects worth $1.36 billion.
Mashreq has said it aims to increase the amount of sustainable finance that it facilitates to reach $30 billion by 2030.
In a statement to WAM, Dusen said that ESG is related to cash flow in five important ways. It minimizes regulatory and legal intervention, increases employee productivity, optimizes investment and capital expenditures, facilitates top-line growth by attracting customers through sustainable products and services, and reduces costs by, for example, lowering energy consumption.
He added that businesses and governments globally are increasingly recognizing that Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risks and opportunities are fundamental to guarantee the long-term success of companies alongside the attraction of talent, the operating model, and their investors’ interests.
As such, ESG principles have become a core element to every company’s operation and supply chain, moving from a “nice to have” to a crucial element of business strategy, Dusen stated.
In Jan 2023, Mashreq hosted the ESG Impact on Modern Supply Chains, an inaugural MEED-Mashreq Business Leaders Forum that seeks to build insights around the role of ESG principles and its practical application within supply chains.
