Emirates NBD has launched the UAE’s first dedicated Transition Finance Framework, designed to help corporate and institutional clients shift towards lower-carbon and more sustainable business models.
The framework provides a structured methodology for identifying, assessing and labelling eligible transition finance activities. It focuses on reducing emissions in high-emitting and hard-to-abate sectors where decarbonisation can be complex, capital-intensive or limited by technological challenges.
Key sectors covered include manufacturing, mining, power and energy, real estate, transportation and storage, agriculture, and information technology.
The framework was developed with reference to international standards, including the International Capital Market Association’s Climate Transition Finance Handbook, the ICMA Climate Transition Bond Guidelines 2025 and the Loan Market Association’s Guide to Transition Loan Finance 2025.
It is intended to support companies whose activities may not currently meet the requirements for green finance but are taking credible steps to reduce emissions and adopt more sustainable operating models.
Emirates NBD has also appointed DNV Assurance to provide a Second Party Opinion on the framework’s credibility and alignment with market standards.
Corporate and institutional banking clients will gain clearer guidance on eligible transition activities and improved access to financing for emissions reduction, energy efficiency, cleaner technologies and low-carbon business models. The framework will also help businesses respond to evolving investor, lender and regulatory expectations.
Vijay Bains, Chief Sustainability Officer and Group Head of ESG at Emirates NBD, said the framework would expand the bank’s existing sustainable finance and sustainability-linked financing offerings.
“Our goal is to empower our clients with robust, transparent and innovative transition finance solutions,” Bains said. “This new framework ensures we are fully equipped to support the real economy transition across the UAE and the wider region.”
Emirates NBD has set a target to mobilise US$30 billion in sustainable finance by 2030, supporting the UAE Banks Federation’s wider ambition to deliver AED1 trillion in sustainable financing by the end of the decade.
The bank said the new framework would help direct capital towards decarbonisation, industrial transformation and long-term economic resilience while supporting the UAE’s broader climate ambitions.
