RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund ranked first in the Middle East region and seventh worldwide among 100 global state-owned funds for scoring high in governance, sustainability and resilience practices, according to the evaluation of the Global Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Launched in 2020, the GSR scorecard is driven by an annual review of the best practices of the world’s top 100 funds, focusing on 25 elements — 10 of which are associated to governance and transparency, 10 to sustainability and responsible investing, and five to resilience and legitimacy. 

Regionally, the Middle East has seen the largest improvement in the GSR scoreboard, from 32 percent in 2020 to 52 percent in 2023, according to Global Sovereign Wealth Funds’ website. 
Saudi Arabia’s PIF is leading the way with some unprecedented efforts around sustainability in the region, it noted. 

This comes as the PIF, in November 2022, announced its plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, becoming the first sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East and one of the first ones globally to do so. 

The fund’s classification at the regional and global levels among SWFs confirms its pioneering role in applying governance and sustainability standards, according to the PIF’s Head of Strategy Development Chad Richard. 

Highlighting several achievements of the PIF in supporting the global transition towards clean energy, Richard said the sovereign fund also organized the largest voluntary auctions of its kind in the world. The exercise saw over 3.6 million tons of voluntary carbon credits being sold to several local as well as international entities and companies, he explained. 

In addition to this, in October 2022, the PIF became the first SWF to issue green bonds, including the first-ever century green bond, with a total value of $8.5 billion, Richard noted. 

Following that, the PIF also raised $5.5 billion through its second green bond issuance in February. 

The fund said that it will use the money to finance its sustainable investments, in accordance with its Green Finance Framework.   

The PIF aims to achieve its target of reaching zero neutrality in greenhouse gas emissions through the circular carbon economy approach. It was a centerpiece when Saudi Arabia held the presidency of the G20 in 2020.  

The G20 leaders endorsed the concept as a voluntary, holistic, integrated, pragmatic approach to managing emissions while promoting economic growth. 

The PIF’s vision is to be a global investment powerhouse and the world’s most impactful investor, enabling the creation of new sectors and opportunities that will shape the future global economy while driving the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia. 

In order to achieve that, the PIF’s mission is to actively invest over the long term to maximize sustainable returns, be the investment partner of choice for global opportunities, and enable the economic development as well as diversification of the Saudi economy.