Addressing climate change is an urgent challenge for all Mediterranean neighbours. It is also an economic opportunity, since channeling public and private post-pandemic investments towards green sectors entails the potential to create more sustainable growth in the Mediterranean. In order to reduce the funding gap and to create future-oriented and meaningful new green jobs for the Mediterranean region’s young population, all available instruments of Climate Finance must be utilized. This includes the EU Global Gateway, which intends to mobilize private sector finance and expertise in the EU’s partner countries. Furthermore, during the COP26, more than 4.000 businesses committed to aligning their business models with 1.5 degrees and net-zero emissions by 2050 by signing up to the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero campaign. The objective of this event is to address the funding gap in climate finance in the Southern Mediterranean States. It will discuss how public and private finance can contribute to the implementation of projects related to climate change mitigation as well as to the generation of more decent and green jobs. Further topics to be discussed include the necessary political environment to attract new sources of Climate Finance from the private sector. In addition, a focus will be placed on the creation of green jobs and the potential benefits of the EU Global Gateway and recent private sector initiatives on the Southern Mediterranean countries.
Speakers
Hossam Eldin Abdelwahab, Vice Chairman of Banque Misr, Egypt
Lionel Rapaille, Director Lending operations in the EU Neighbouring Countries EIB Global. European Investment Bank
Narcis Jeler, Climate change finance, European Commission, DG CLIMA
Yaseen Abdel Ghaffar, CEO, SolarizEgypt
Moderator Dr. Regine Qualmann, Head of Division for North Africa, GIZ
