Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, head of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and acting CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), members of the Islamic Development Bank Group, participated in the second edition of the Egypt- International Cooperation Forum held at the New Administrative Capital under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Sonbol participated in a high-level roundtable on Egypt Country Platform for “NWFE” program, which tackles the nexus of water, food and energy, and adopts a multi-stakeholder approach that includes the participation of a number of international financial institutions and the private sector.
Commenting on his participation, Sonbol emphasized the timely significance of the Egypt Country Platform for “NWFE” program, which was launched by the Ministry of International Cooperation to catalyze finance, adding that the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector are keen to play an important role through international trade and investment to support Egypt and all member countries in mobilizing climate finance for green projects.
Sonbol confirmed that the ITFC is currently working on defining its strategy on climate change to develop its own framework and define its goals for climate-smart financing and trade-related interventions.
He pointed out that the latest report on the Adaptation Gap Report 2021 revealed that the adaptation needs of developing countries range from USD 140 to 300 billion annually by 2030, and that the costs of climate adaptation may increase from USD 280 billion to USD 500 billion annually by 2050 for developing countries alone.
He added that these numbers imply that climate finance for adaptation provided by multilateral development banks, which in 2020 was estimated at USD 16.1 billion or 24% of total climate finance, is far from sufficient to meet the adaptation needs of developing countries.
Sonbol underscored that one of the competitive advantages of ITFC is its ability to bring together the private sector and its developmental partners to finance green and sustainable trade, in addition to its ability to provide technical assistance and trade-related advisory services to member countries in relation to climate finance.
