The Ministry of International Cooperation, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), hosted a follow-up event at COP28 in the UAE to monitor the progress of the Resilience Credit Evaluation Initiative. Launched at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, the initiative aims to leverage resilience credit as a novel financial tool to boost investment in climate adaptation sectors.
The initiative seeks to galvanize action from both governmental and private entities to fortify the resilience of communities most impacted by climate change, with a particular focus on small-scale farmers.
The initiative’s primary strategy involves implementing resilience credit within the agricultural sector, offering incentives to stakeholders such as private investors and international organizations. This approach is designed to bolster resilience in developing nations, targeting three key objectives: escalating private investment in adaptation projects, empowering small-scale farmers with sustainable practices to withstand climate-related disturbances, and improving food security for vulnerable populations.
The session featured notable attendees, including Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation; Jo Puri, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Knowledge at IFAD; Guy Collins, Deputy Chairperson of Citibank Group; and Mark Gulland, Professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
Minister Al-Mashat emphasized the initiative’s role in advancing the climate action agenda and underscored the urgency of addressing climate change amidst global challenges such as the Coronavirus pandemic and its cascading effects. She highlighted the disparity in climate financing, noting that adaptation projects received a mere 4.9% of total funding compared to mitigation efforts in 2021-2022. Despite an increase in adaptation financing to $63 billion, it falls short of the estimated $212 billion required annually for developing countries by 2030.
El-Mashat advocated for enhancing international development cooperation through innovative financing mechanisms that support climate change adaptation and risk management.
She referenced the Sharm El-Sheikh Guide to Fair Finance, introduced at the previous climate conference, which encompasses the resilience credit concept and presents a suite of tools and solutions to optimize climate finance efficiency. The guide also outlines 12 principles of fair finance.
Al-Mashat concluded by mentioning the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of International Cooperation, IFAD, and Duke University to refine the concept and methodology of resilience credit, aiming to catalyze climate adaptation efforts, foster sustainable investment, improve community livelihoods, and strengthen resilience.
The Minister of International Cooperation chaired the first meeting of the Supreme Committee for the Flexibility Credit Evaluation Initiative, which was organized by the Ministry of International Cooperation, in partnership with IFAD and Duke University, as part of the activities of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. It included representatives of the private sector, commercial banks, non-profit organizations, academia and think tanks, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Economic Forum, and others.
