UAE, June 03, 2015 - Participants of the 6th Green Economy Annual Conference, organized recently by the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), have recommended a formation of an Operations and Communications Group. The group will include the Central Bank of the UAE, Ministry of Environment and Water, and UNEP FI and will lead in the undertaking of a number of measures such as implementation of the Green Economy within the framework of the UAE’s Green Growth Strategy and encouraging investment, banking and economic sectors to transform to a sustainable Green Economy.

The recommendation reflects the successful development and implementation of the strategies and policies in line with the UAE’s Green Growth Strategy, allowing the country to play a leading role in the national, regional and international arena. It was supported by a presentation of many success stories on the green economy projects, financed and implemented in the developed sectors such as energy, transportation, food, cities, waste and buildings. The projects can be funded through various financing and investment tools from local and global institutions such as Masdar Capital, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, among others.

The conference therefore recommended that there is an urgent need to mobilize the enormous potential of the UAE’s private financial institutions in order to strengthen and accelerate the implementation process. With the presence of appropriate tools and incentives along with potential recommendations, the country is a global pioneer player in the field of green economy.

One of the tasks approved by the recommendations is to form a working group comprising the Central Bank of the UAE, Ministry of Environment and Water and UNEP FI to support the principles of sustainable funding of the global financial initiative. This will be done by organizing roundtables for the CEOs of the financial institutions with the Central Bank and the Ministry. In addition, it will identify the actions to be followed by financiers, entrepreneurs and policymakers through specialized working groups according to the priority sectors listed in the Green Agenda and start implementing them through capacity building and policy formulation and measuring them by connecting the green investment requirements with key performance indicators.

The highly informative sessions revealed that the finance sector can play a major and most significant role in the green economy by diverting investment from the traditional model to the green model. Moreover, the efficient use of energy and resources is a clear business case for manufacturers and financiers as well as the supporting policies (coordination, prices of utilities, financial policies, risk guarantee, and capacity building) are important for making the green investment viable, while leveraging on the Islamic finance will provide great opportunities.

The 6th Green Economy Annual Conference was held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad bin Fahad, UAE Minister of Environment and Water under the theme of ‘National Roundtable on Financing and Investing in Green Economy Projects’.

The forum saw broad international, regional, and national participation and was attended by senior officials from various government organizations and private sector companies, representing sectors such as banking and finance, insurance, investment, and industry. Key personalities from the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Departments of Economic Development, the Ministries of Economy, Finance, Energy and Foreign Affairs, Municipalities, and Environmental Authorities were also present in addition to representatives from international organizations such as the UNO.

The conference featured five Dialogue Sessions, including Sustainable Financing, State of the UAE’s Green Economy, Financing Low Carbon Emission Opportunities, and Leadership in Financing Greening of Industries, in accordance with the process of transitioning to a green economy.