National Bank of Kuwait has officially launched an updated Sustainable Financing Framework, expanding its capacity to issue green, social, blue, and sustainability-linked financial instruments.
The revised framework has received an “Excellent” rating from Sustainable Fitch via an independent Second-Party Opinion. This assessment confirms the framework’s alignment with international capital and loan market standards issued by the International Capital Market Association, the Loan Market Association, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association.
Under the updated terms, capital raised will be directed toward projects targeting climate change mitigation, renewable energy, resilient infrastructure development, financial inclusion, and access to essential services. The framework is designed to align with the economic diversification goals of Kuwait Vision 2035 and support the country’s target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
This iteration updates the bank’s initial 2022 framework, under which a $500 million green bond was issued in June 2024, followed by an allocation and impact report in May 2025.
The 2026 revisions introduce several technical updates to the asset eligibility criteria:
- The inclusion of advanced technologies, including biofuels, green hydrogen, and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage.
- The addition of sustainable data centres and circular economy practices.
- The formal introduction of blue finance as a dedicated sub-category to fund marine and water resource management.
- Enhanced governance and reporting requirements to increase transaction transparency.
The new framework will apply to all subsequent sustainable financing instruments issued by the bank and its subsidiaries.
