The 2024 priorities for developing a sustainable financial services firm in the Middle East - LIBF MENA whitepaper

At COP28, held in the UAE, the end of the fossil fuel era was announced. Sustainable finance has become a crucial part of the banking industry. And to achieve a sustainable future, banks need to lay the groundwork, nurture and manage the transition, and address specific challenges.

The whitepaper recently published by LIBF provides a guide to help bankers in the MENA region navigate the transition to sustainability in 2024. Authored by LIBF's visiting faculty members and subject matter experts Emmanuel Rondeau and Vera Spencer Koubek, the whitepaper focuses on two major sectoral challenges: sustainable agriculture and carbon offsets.

So, what do banks need to do now? The whitepaper provides actionable insights and tasks, including:

• Stay updated on green taxonomies and regulations, particularly the EU taxonomy which mandates disclosure requirements. Standardisation is progressing, and banks need to align with the firm’s medium-term strategy
• Assess all existing and new assets using green taxonomies to embed climate risk into lending or investment portfolios
• The world will need around US$3.5tn of annual capital investment to get to a net-zero economy by 2050
• Banks need to decide on their business and product strategy so that they can gain traction and leadership in the key green markets of lending, capital markets and wealth management

Learn more about the essential steps and actionable insights you can take to grow a greener bank: download the whitepaper today.