Roundtable On Climate Finance Jointly Organized By TKBB and Green for South Inc.

Today, financing climate action requires large investments in mitigation and adaptation projects. While climate change adaptation is a priority and investments in this field are significant, the available domestic public resources are constrained by fiscal deficits and the global geopolitical instability and economic crisis. Moreover, private sector involvement in climate change adaptation and mitigation is still emerging and access to public international climate finance remains not only insufficient but also not aligned with national priorities. In such a context, the roundtable highlighted the urgency of designing and implementing the right policies to develop local and international best practices with the aim to scale up the funding needed to address climate change challenges and leverage its opportunities.

The roundtable took place with the active participation of national and international experts representing banking and capital markets institutions, regulatory bodies and service providers.

The roundtable, which was moderated by Mrs. Fatma Çınar, Director at TKBB, started with the opening remarks by Mr. İlker Koç, Head of Enforcement Department III at Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA).

During her welcoming speech, Mrs. Fatma Cinar, Director, TKBB stated ‘’Participation banks have achieved significant progress in recent years regarding awareness, capacity and practices in the field of sustainability and as the umbrella organisation of Participation Banks, we closely follow developments in sustainable finance. We endeavour to make pioneering contributions in this field and we should also emphasise sustainability through the basic principles and values of participation finance. I believe that this initiative will significantly contribute to the development of our finance sector in the field of sustainability, to our participation banks and to all our stakeholders who have gathered together today‘’.

Mr. İlker Koç, Head of Enforcement Department III at BRSA said ‘’There is an increasingly strengthened relationship between climate change and the stability and soundness of the financial sector. Climate change is the most important risk that threatens our planet and habitants. Besides, it’s a factor that negatively affects our current economy and financial sectors. For this reason, management of climate-related risks has become one of the important topics for financial supervisors. However, there are challenges and uncertainties in measuring and analysing climate related financial risks. To overcome these difficulties, we need to use relevant methodologies based on reasonable assumptions. The “Climate Finance Readiness Index” Report offers an appropriate initial methodology for the management of climate risks and enhancing climate financing.”

After the keynote speeches, Dr. Ahmed Tahiri Jouti and Dr. Wael Mohamed Aaminou Co-Founders and Managing Partners at Green For South Inc. delivered their first presentations on the outcomes of the report titled ‘’Climate Finance Readiness Index 2023: Middle East, North Africa & Türkiye Region’’. This annual report assesses the state of climate finance for the MENA region & Türkiye and recommends a set of policy interventions based on international best practices and national contexts. The second and third presentations respectively addressed the topics of ESG frameworks and Greenhouse gases accounting methodologies through case studies and global standards analysis. The presentations ended with a discussion on the opportunities and challenges for developing the climate finance ecosystem and projects in Türkiye.