SABB announces its strategy for environmental, social, and governance (ESG)

Mr. Tony Cripps, CEO and Managing Director of the Saudi British Bank "SABB", announced the Bank’s strategy towards environmental, social, and governance practices (ESG), which forms one of the main pillars of the bank's 2025 strategy during a media briefing held on Tuesday Sept. 13 at SABB Headquarters.

Mr. Tony Cripps emphasized the importance of the financial sector’s commitment to drive ESG practices within the Kingdom, to support sustainable development, and proactively manage social impact. He also stressed the pivotal role that SABB will play in this field, supporting the Kingdom's Vision 2030, and the ambition to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2060.

Mr. Cripps highlighted the ESG areas SABB aims to concentrate on for sustainable development in the Kingdom and the region as a whole. These include:

a) developing products and services to support our clients transition journey.

b) allocating finance towards green and sustainable businesses as this becomes one of the largest sector globally.

c) working with the industry and other banks to develop taxonomy and guidelines to standardize ESG taxonomy across the financial sector.

d) educating our staff and the market at large on the topic of ESG.

Mr. Tony Cripps stated: “As one of the largest financial institutions in the Kingdom, we are committed to supporting the government’s vision in its path to achieve this transformation, which will push companies to invest in technology, and grow their businesses with sustainability as the main driver.”

He added: "We aspire to lead in this field, not only for SABB, but also to establish a platform spearheading the financial sector to move forward in implementing environmental, social and governance. ESG is one of the most important global trends, with keen interest from all stakeholders, especially investors. As a financial institution, we must contribute to supporting the development of ESG and encourage responsible investments, and responsible lending in the Kingdom.”