Global investment to the tune of $4 trillion per year is required to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and avoid temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the investor community from MENA can be a key force in unlocking this, experts said at a management summit.
“With the COP28 Presidency placing business centre stage, let us use platforms such as the Alternative Investment Management Summit (AIM) to raise our ambitions, create our own green agenda that is underpinned by social and economic progress, and catalyse the change we need to see for the sake of our businesses, our society and our planet,” Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and COP28 Special Representative of Business & Philanthropy, said at the summit.
The latest edition of AIM was attended by investors and managers from various sectors of the alternative investment industry, including hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, private debt, digital assets, and fintech, to connect with global industry leaders.
Addressing the summit in an opening keynote titled “The Role of Catalytic Capital in Accelerating Climate Action”, Jafar highlighted the critical role the private sector must play in fixing climate finance to ensure these investment and financing mechanisms are accessible, affordable and equitable in their construct.
“Developing countries require investments of 2.4 trillion dollars annually through to 2030 to meet Paris Agreement goals. To address biodiversity loss and land degradation, investments in nature to the tune of $8 trillion is needed between now and 2050,” he said.
Jafar also highlighted the vulnerability of certain regions, including the MENA region where natural water scarcity, coupled with temperatures rising at twice the global average, foreshadow an increase in drought and extreme weather events that can impact hundreds of millions of lives.
The event also featured other keynote speakers such as Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, Dr. Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor of Allianz, and Mike Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy.
The economists and finance leaders came together to explore global market conditions, and the latest trends that are shaping the alternative investment industry as well as addressing challenges and opportunities for the finance and climate nexus, ahead of the COP28 meet in Dubai.
Speakers at event such as the AIM Summit held in the UAE in the run-up to COP28 are placing the role of the private sector at the heart of the conversation around climate change, highlighting that real, impactful progress can be made when business and philanthropy is brought to the table and flows of catalytic capital are channeled towards addressing the world’s most pressing needs.
Source : ArabianBusiness
