- CBI to be part of the co-creation of a National Sustainable Finance Utility, supporting the UAE’s goal to mobilise AED 1 trillion in Sustainable Finance by 2030
- CBI will leverage WWG’s G17Eco Platform through e& enterprise for its own sustainability reporting and to scale sustainable finance commitments
- Agreement also focuses on digital sustainable financing product and policy innovation to scale resources toward the Sustainable Development Goals
Abu Dhabi, 29th October 2024 – e& enterprise, the digital transformation arm of the global technology group e&, and its partner World Wide Generation (WWG) are enhancing the ‘Sustainability as a Service’ offering for the MENA region. By joining forces with UAE entities—including regulators, financial institutions, and government bodies—they aim to support banks, investors, and corporations in meeting upcoming reporting regulations, slated for May 2025, while enabling the UAE to meet its ambitious target of unlocking AED 1 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030.
This initiative will leverage WWG’s cutting-edge G17Eco technology platform to integrate sustainability standards into traditional financial analysis and operations.
e& enterprise and its partner WWG have now signed an agreement with Commercial Bank International (CBI), which is also a founding member of e& enterprise’s haifin platform (a consortium of over 15 Banks and 4 fintechs), providing governance for trade finance and the partners aim to extend a similar model to create a global Sustainable Finance Utility for banks and investors. The partnership and the G17Eco Platform also aim to support the bank with its own sustainability reporting and to meet its contribution to the UAE’s national target for sustainable finance. CBI, who are pioneering several sustainability and fintech projects and investments, will leverage its network to co-create a solution that benefits not only the bank but the entire industry.
Salvador Anglada, CEO, e& enterprise, said: “This initiative marks a significant milestone in our commitment to driving a more sustainable future in the UAE. By leveraging our existing collaboration with the regulators, CBI, other local and international banks, fintechs, the investor community and the powerful G17Eco platform, we aim to create a truly transformative, fully automated, sustainable finance utility that will empower lenders and investors to not only track but also enhance their sustainability performance and products and in turn transform their clients especially SMEs. We are confident that this initiative will inspire a ripple effect throughout the region and beyond, redefining the role of finance in driving positive change and fostering a more inclusive, equitable and innovative economy.”
Ali Sultan Rakkad Al Amri, CEO, Commercial Bank International, said: “Sustainability is very close to my heart. As a bank, we are strongly committed to supporting the UAE’s vision of a more sustainable future for the country, the region and the planet. A key pillar in our banking strategy is partnership driven innovation, and partnering with e& enterprise and World Wide Generation marks a milestone in executing our ambitions to support the establishment of a sustainable finance utility in the banking sector. Similarly, our ability to track and govern our collective sustainability performance is a critical driver in achieving our shared goals. We are proud to be a founding bank on the G17Eco platform.”
Manjula Lee, CEO and Founder of World Wide Generation said: “I am beyond thrilled to be launching such a needed and breakthrough platform to solve the pain points for banks and investors who want to provide loans and investments not just as an ‘ESG badge’ but in a more conscious, risk reduced, holistic and sustainable way across its entire portfolio. For 6 years WWG have been building taxonomies and apps on G17Eco to be able to collect, process, aggregate and disseminate trusted, standardised and timely impact data for any size organisation, now we want to be able to matchmake them to sustainable solutions and finance at scale using breakthrough technology. I am looking forward to housing this initiative at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), where we are now inviting all the local and international banks and investors to join this consortium so we can scale sustainable finance and delivery globally”.
The development of a Global Sustainable Finance Utility driven by WWG and supported by e& enterprise will enable banks and investors to map, monitor, measure, manage, and market their sustainability performance end-to-end and help them share data directly with their internal and external stakeholders from a single interoperable platform. The utility will deploy the G17Eco platform, a partnership-driven ecosystem that delivers sustainability education and advisory, a suite of interoperable digital reporting tools, a centre of excellence for digital transformation and a sustainable solutions and finance marketplace all powered by breakthrough fourth industrial revolution (4iR) technologies.
A key objective of the e& enterprise and WWG collaboration is to unlock large-scale sustainable finance liquidity through breakthrough fintech solutions and policies, supported by UAE regulators. The Sustainable Finance Utility on G17Eco will integrate innovative financing mechanisms—such as green and impact bonds, sustainability-linked loans, tokenisation, and sukuks—alongside technologies like blockchain and AI to address the standardisation, transparency, governance, and analytics required to achieve global social, economic, and environmental goals by 2030.
