Launch of the Arab Fund Green Projects Program
The repercussions of climate change represent one of the most important challenges facing the Arab countries, because of its negative impact on the safety and health of citizens, and the sustainability of many economic activities. In response to this issue, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development launched its green projects program in support of Arab countries in this field. This program demonstrates the Arab Fund’s support for the transition to green economies by stimulating projects that reduce negative environmental impacts and carbon emissions, encouraging the establishment of new green projects, and supporting existing ones.
As part of this program, the Arab Fund will:
1- Provide loans for green projects with a lower interest rate than that of other project loans.
2- Provide grants to conduct feasibility studies and designs and to support institutional and individual capacities in the Arab countries and allocate an amount of 1.5 million K.D for the first phase of the program for a period of two years (2023-2024).
3- Launch competitions to finance innovative small green projects and allocate one million K.D. for the first phase of the program for a period of two years (2023-2024).
4- Organize the Arab Conference for Cooperation on Climate Change to strengthen the cooperation of Arab countries, will be held in the state of Kuwait from 29th to the 30th of May 2023, aimed to strengthen and support the Arab dialogue on climate change, and to reinforce cooperation in countering possible negative repercussions. The conference will be attended by representatives of government institutions, scientific and research institutions, as well as Arab and international financial institutions concerned with this matter.
5- Cooperate with Arab financial institutions to develop the Guide to Environmental Requirements for Development Projects issued in 2009, which is approved by these institutions, and to keep acquainted with recent developments, work on the exchange of previous experiences, and activate the provisions of this guide.
The above program has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Arab Fund. The guidelines and regulations related to the implementation of the elements of this program are currently being prepared. The Arab countries and the institutions of the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) will be informed about this program during its various stages.
One of the first activities related to this field was the selection of the main theme of the Joint Arab Economic Report for 2022 to be focused on climate change, including the definition of the climate change phenomenon, international efforts to face its repercussions, the reality of the situation in the Arab countries, their efforts in this regard, and the prospects for cooperation between Arab countries in the exchange of information, experiences, and scientific research, and the convergence of views, in support of the aspirations of these countries.