Climate Transition Planning Masterclass Series Event Held

The event, organized in cooperation with the Banks Association of Turkey(BAT), Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency(BRSA), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and with the Participation Banks Association of Turkey(TKBB) as a panelist, was held on 4 April 2024. The event, titled "Climate Transition Planning Masterclass Series" , focused on ensuring the resilience of the business world, key elements and prioritization of climate strategy, introducing new green products, multi-year planning and budgeting, as well as stakeholder engagement. It was the second seminar of the Climate Transition Planning Masterclass Series given by local and foreign experts at the event attended by experts in the Turkish banking sector.

Important experts in their fields made presentations at the seminar. Ottó Sebestyen, EBRD Corporate Climate Governance Facilitator and Deloitte Senior Manager, presented "Fundamentals of Climate Strategy: Ensuring Business Resilience, Key Elements and Approaches, Stakeholder Engagement and Prioritization", while Ksenia Brockman, EBRD Deputy Director and Head of Green Financial Systems for the Caucasus, Central Asia and Turkey, talked about "Opportunities and Challenges of Introducing New Green Products with Best Practices and Examples from European Banks". Hayri Türkmen, Chairman of the Climate Risks Working Group of the BAT, followed with a presentation on "Multi-Year Planning and Budgeting for Climate Strategy".

"OUR UNION ALSO CARRIES OUT SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES WITH A BROAD PERSPECTIVE APPROACH"

PBAT Director Fatma Çınar made a presentation titled "Stakeholder Engagement and the Enabling Role of the Association for Participation Banks' Innovative Green Products with Best Practices". In her speech titled "Communicating with Sustainability" , Çınar discussed many topics ranging from participation banking, sustainable finance principles with its core values and principles to the positioning of sustainability activities at the center of corporate strategies by Turkish participation banking sector stakeholders. In addition, Çınar said, "Our Association, which has a multi-dimensional integrated sustainability approach that covers both the activities of member banks and other stakeholders, carries out sustainability activities with a broad perspective approach."

Stating the objectives in activating the relationship between Participation Finance and sustainability, Çınar emphasized that it is necessary to support the SDGs in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030in the vision of IsDB and UN. Stating the importance of supporting the role of sustainable financein development, observing social benefit, raising awareness and increasing financial inclusion, Çınar also touched on sustainability activities and international collaborations in his presentation.

SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ARE VERY IMPORTANT

Continuing her speeches at the second seminar of the Climate Transition Planning Masterclass Series, TKBB Director Fatma Çınar stated that in 2021, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Istanbul International Center for Private Sector Development (IICPSD) and our Association signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in utilizing Islamic financefor the effective implementation and realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Çınar said, "In 2021, an MoU was signed with the Djibouti Ministry of Economy and Finance in charge of Industry (MEFI) to provide knowledge, skills and know-how transfer to local stakeholders in Djibouti with UNDP's implementing partnership on participation finance business and process models and legal structure to contribute to the development of Islamic micro finance in Djibouti. In 2021, a representative from our Association participated as a speaker in the seminar titled "Islamic Social Finance as a Means of Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" organized in cooperation with the United Nations and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and talked about the social finance activities carried out by participation banks in Turkey to support the SDGs among the G20 Muslim majority countries."

On 25 November 2022, the 8th World Halal Summit was held in cooperation with the PBAT, the Kuala Lumpur Center of Excellence (KLCoE) of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as part of the negotiation programs in the field of social finance conducted within the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC ). Çınar, who addressed different issues ranging from the organization of a panel titled "Innovations in Islamic Social Finance: Opportunities for Turkey" at the World Halal Summit event, said, "In June 2022, the Islamic Development Bank Group held in Egypt, "Beyond the Pandemic: Resilience and Sustainability" held in Egypt in June 2022, the UNDP "Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Islamic Finance for Sustainable Development Goals", of which TKBB is the first implementer worldwide."

Stating that the training was realized in cooperation with UNDP IICPSD, IsDB and Durham University Business School in the UK, Çınar said, "It is the first online course in this field designed to improve the capacity of development professionals and Islamic finance stakeholders on sustainable development and Islamic finance."

Stating that 27 internationally recognized experts from 11 countries and 3 continents were brought together as course instructors, consisting of 5 modules, and that it was published free of charge both on IsDBI's EdX channel and on UNDP's Learning for Nature platform, Çınar also emphasized the importance of the fact that learning videos related to the training are also included in this training program in the SDG Academy Library.

TKBB'S ROLE AS AN ENABLER IN COP 28 AND COP 29 PANELS

Stating that the PBAT took part in the panel titled "Alignment of Faith-Based Investing and Impact Investing with the Sustainable Development Goals" at COP 28 held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in December 2023, Çınar said, "In the panel, the enabling role of the Participation Banks Association of Turkey for the communication of the alignment of participation banking and impact investing with the SDGs was mentioned and important milestones for the internalization and alignment of sustainable finance with Islamic finance principles were shared as best practices."

Stating that the PBAT will take part in joint studies on Islamic finance, sustainable finance and impact investments at COP 29, Çınar said, "Within the scope of the COP29 program, our Association has reached a preliminary agreement to carry out joint studies with The Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) and The Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC )."

In 2021, TKBB Director Fatma Çınar included various topics in her presentation, from the webinar on "Value-Based Intermediation" in cooperation with the Malaysia-based INCEIF university to the launch of the report titled "Climate Finance Readiness Index 2023" prepared by Green for South on March 6, 2023, "The launch, which was attended and contributed by important public authorities such as BRSA and CMB, was concluded with a roundtable meeting where current issues such as green finance regulations on climate finance, climate risk management, impact measurement-reporting and greenhouse gas accounting were discussed. "

SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT WITH LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS WERE DISCUSSED

Stating that a working group meeting on "Aligning Faith-Based Investments and Impact Investments" was organized in cooperation with the Impact Investment Advisory Board (EYDK)in sustainability activities carried out with local stakeholders, Çınar said: "At the relevant working group meeting, COP28 outputs, sharing of international good practice examples, identification of stakeholder ecosystem, alternative financing