Manama: Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) and UN Environment (UNEP) have proposed to collaborate for leveraging private finance for environmental projects in Al Baraka network countries.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on May 20, 2019 to formalise the strategic partnership by Adnan Ahmed Yousif, the President and Chief Executive of ABG, and Ms. Joyce Msuya, the UN Environment Acting Executive Director.
The partnership aims at developing best practices in sustainable development, which is vital for the successful transitions to green economies – an effort to fulfil a shared common vision in sustainable development between the two organizations. UN Environment West Asia Office and Al Baraka Banking Group will facilitate knowledge exchange, replication of successful solutions, and transfer of expertise by establishing standards and innovative finance approaches for varying contexts through collaboration in research and events.
“It is the Group’s intention to finance environmental projects of over $197 million for 2019- 2020 in various countries where Al Baraka operates. This pledge comes as part of the Al Baraka Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2020). We expect that our collective effort will help reduce carbon emissions in these countries. In addition, we hope that this financing pledge will encourage other banks to similarly finance renewable and energy efficiency projects,” Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, ABG’s President and Chief Executive, said.
“Partnerships and financing are critical to achieving the environmental challenges facing the planet. Through channeling private finance for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, we hope this partnership will be able to strengthen efforts to achieve sustainable development in the region while improving the lives of local communities,” Ms. Joyce Msuya, the UN Environment Acting Executive Director, said.
Msuya further reinforced the UNEP’s commitment to extend its comparative advantage in renewable energy and energy efficiency to support all the units of ABG in the integration of the environmental dimension of the SDGs into Al Baraka’s development plans.
It is noteworthy that Al Baraka SDG Goals are aligned with seven of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030. As part of this pledge, Al Baraka Group will extend its support to renewable and energy efficiency projects in Al Baraka’s operating countries by:
1. Financing over $78 million towards renewable energy projects.
2. Financing over $ 119 million towards enhancing the energy efficiency of existing cooling & electric systems.
“We are proud to support the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development, as we believe that the UN Global Goals and Islamic finance are based on our inherent shared values. The current pledge of US$197 million is in addition to the previous pledge of US$ 635 million made in 2016, and brings the total of Al Baraka’s pledge to US$ 832 million for financing the Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving the Global Goals requires financing at different levels and, therefore, the banking and financial services sector has a key role to play. While the financing gap to meet the Global Goals is huge, the investment opportunity to finance Global Goals is equally huge and unprecedented. We can bridge the investment gap with more private investments,” Mr. Yousif further added.
Mr. Yousif expressed sincere gratitude to Mr. Sami Dimassi, Regional Representative and Director of UN Environment West Asia Office and his team for their efforts in developing this collaboration, and stated his eagerness to working with them in implementing the MOU. Mr. Yousif also expressed the Group’s sincere appreciation to Mr. Amin El Sharkawi, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Bahrain, for his support, since the very start, in developing our Al Baraka SDG Goals and opening doors to other UN agencies. Mr. Stefano Pettinato, Resident Representative of UNDP Bahrain, for his efforts in implementing our MoU with UNDP.
