The Arab Coordination Group (ACG), which includes the IsDB as a member, has announced a seven-point strategic initiative to deploy financing to accelerate the shift toward clean and renewable energy sources.
Announced at the sidelines of the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, the initiative will see the deployment of US$10 billion in financing by 2030 through the 10 members of the strategic alliance.
“The ACG has the capacity to mobilize substantial financing, boasts nearly 50 years of South-South cooperation and has a proven track record in advancing sustainable development in its partner countries,” the director-general of the ACG member OPEC Fund, Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, commented.
The US$10 billion commitment will contribute to increasing the use of green debt market instruments, blended finance and risk mitigation tools. In a bid to promote energy transition, the allocation will spur innovation in energy efficiency and storage technologies in addition to advancing access to sustainable energy on a global scale.
The initiative also seeks to strengthen climate resilience across the food, transport, water and urban systems sectors. Pillars of the strategic plan further include collaborating and knowledge sharing, capacity building as well as monitoring and evaluation.
The initiative follows the ACG’s US$24 billion commitment announced at COP27 last year. The 2022 commitments are currently being rolled out globally, with a focus on least developed countries as designated by the UN and small island developing states.
Closely proceeding the launch of the strategic initiative, the IsDB and the IsDB Group’s trade finance arm, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation allocated US$240 million in funding to Turkiye to support its earthquake recovery program and SME sector.
Notably, the OPEC Fund also contributed to Turkiye’s Post-Earthquake Recovery and Agri-food Support project through the ACG’s Food Security Action Commitment.