Global carbon ratings agency, BeZero Carbon, has partnered with Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region, to support its carbon due diligence efforts and scale the nascent UAE carbon market.
The BeZero Carbon rating provides customers with a risk-based assessment of a carbon project’s likelihood of avoiding or removing one tonne of CO2e, on an eight-point scale, from ‘AAA’, representing highest likelihood, to ‘D’. Carbon ratings help market participants to better understand the quality of their carbon credit investments.
The partnership will see Emirates NBD become the first banking group in the region to use a ratings agency for voluntary carbon market trading, with its new carbon trading desk leveraging the BeZero Carbon Markets platform which currently hosts more than 440 ratings of carbon credit projects. With access to hundreds of global, comprehensive, science-based risk assessments of carbon projects, Emirates NBD and its clients can navigate this market with confidence in the quality of investments.
As the UAE races to embrace carbon markets through initiatives including the establishment of Dubai Financial Market’s pilot programme for trading carbon credits, ratings are poised to help scale this emerging market. The country has committed to reaching Net Zero by 2050, and the use of high-quality carbon credits is expected to play a significant role in realising this ambition.
Tommy Ricketts, CEO and co-Founder of BeZero Carbon, said: “We are excited to demonstrate the impact of carbon ratings in the UAE carbon markets, through our partner Emirates NBD. The region has an appetite to invest in genuinely effective climate solutions, alongside realising emissions reductions ahead of 2050. Harnessing the demand for high-quality carbon credits requires the right tools to build trust and transparency, and we are proud to make our mark in the Gulf through our risk assessments.”
Vijay Bains, Chief Sustainability Officer and Group Head of ESG at Emirates NBD, said: “At a time when carbon credits and offsets are vital for organisations aiming to achieve net zero targets, we are delighted to join forces with BeZero to enhance transparency and consolidate quality evaluations of carbon credits in the region. This partnership underscores Emirates NBD’s commitment to leading the dynamic carbon trading landscape and supporting the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 action plan."