Time & Date of Event

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Wednesday, 9^th of November 2022

Event Overview

The event will provide a background on the challenges and opportunities in scaling up Islamic finance for climate action in the MENA region.

A technical presentation will provide a status update on the joint UNEPFI-IsDB/I-CIBAFI initiative to map and understand current practices, challenges and potential opportunities within Islamic banking in relation climate action. The project is currently in its scoping phase and using this side event as an opportunity to seek practical feedback to guide its plans for the piloting Phase, including the initiation of practical pilot activities for individual financial institutions to develop Islamic banking products with climate-related goals. The goal is to scale up climate financing/investment exposures by financial institutions in the MENA region.

Event Outcomes

The side event aims to achieve four critical outcomes:

1. Raise awareness on the need to scale up climate action by financial institutions in the region
2. Highlight the challenges which are restricting exposures in this sector by the financial institutions
3. Create the enabling framework through which UNEPFI-IsDB/I-CIBAFI can provide support and technical assistance to the financial institutions to overcome the barriers they face in climate/sustainable exposures
4. Initiate the link between financial institutions and regulatory and supervisory authorities in the region to coordinate efforts in achieving ‘scale’ in climate action by financial institutions in MENA