FAB Issues Inaugural $50 Million Blue Bond

In a first of its kind by a financial institution in the GCC region, the Abu Dhabi-based First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), one of the world’s largest and safest ‎financial institutions, has issued a $50 million five-year Blue ‎Bond.

This landmark issuance cements FAB’s leadership in sustainable finance and ‎aligns with the UAE’s commitment to the strategic protection of vital water resources and the ‎blue economy. ‎

The bond, issued via a private placement, was anchored by Article 9 (Dark Green) investor ‎who was seeking specific blue labelled instrument. The Blue Bond is aligned with FAB’s ‎Sustainable Finance Framework 2023, and International Capital Market Association Green ‎Bond Principles. ‎

The Blue Bond issuance supports the UAE Water Agenda 2036 to promote innovation and ‎sustainable infrastructure across critical marine ecosystems. It also aligns with the country’s ‎broader environmental objectives particularly as Abu Dhabi prepares to host the International ‎Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in October 2025, and as the UAE welcomes ‎the UN Water Conference in December 2026.‎

Blue bonds are a growing category of sustainable finance instruments, designed to advance ‎and promote water-related environmental objectives. As stewards of capital, financial ‎institutions play a key role in mobilising funding toward the protection of marine ecosystems ‎and sustainable water management, areas historically underfunded despite their global ‎significance. ‎

As a regional pace setter, FAB has taken clear steps to accelerate positive environmental action, ‎by continuously exploring ways to embed nature into the bank’s agenda and drive meaningful ‎impact through capital allocation.

Through this latest financial instrument, FAB is enabling ‎capital flows toward projects that protect and restore ocean health, while fostering long-term ‎environmental and economic resilience, FAB said in a statement on Thursday.

Eligible projects in FAB’s blue asset pool include, amongst others, sustainable water ‎management (sustainable infrastructure for clean drinking water), climate change ‎adaptation projects (conservation and rehabilitation of wetlands, mangroves and coral ‎reefs), sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture and conservation of terrestrial ‎and aquatic biodiversity.‎

FAB was supported by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank as Sole Dealer in the ‎execution of this pioneering transaction.‎

Defining Milestone

Chief Sustainability Officer at FAB Shargiil Bashir said that the Blue Bond issuance is a defining milestone for FAB and a first for any financial institution ‎in the Gulf. It reflects FAB’s conviction that banks must do more than finance the future and ‎must actively shape it with the tools available to them.

By directing capital to protect vital water ‎resources and marine ecosystems, FAB is setting a precedent for sustainable finance in the ‎region.

“This marks another achievement in our journey to drive sustainable development in ‎the UAE and beyond, and it also reinforces the nation’s global leadership on climate and ‎biodiversity, as it prepares to host two major summits and twe are privileged to be at the forefront of this critical ‎transition,” he said.‎

Tanguy Claquin, Global Head of Sustainability, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, said that they were proud to support FAB as Sole Dealer on this landmark ‎Blue Bond – a signal of the region’s increasing focus on aligning financial innovation with ‎global environmental priorities.

“FAB continues to set an ambitious standard ‎and pace for sustainability in the Middle East, and this transaction reflects the growing ‎appetite from global asset managers to direct capital towards new frontiers in sustainable ‎finance, such as the blue economy, nature and biodiversity,”‎ Claquin added.