As President & Founder of the Arab International Women’s Forum it has indeed been an honour and a pleasure to attend two days of the outstanding Inaugural COP28 Business & Philanthropy Climate Forum in the Green Zone at COP28. The Forum launched on November 30 with a high-level reception hosted by the COP28 Presidency and the Sustainable Markets Initiative, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Majesty King Charles III.
The CEO-level Forum was designed to mobilise global business leaders and philanthropists to progress action in line with the COP28 Presidential Action Agenda to advance cross-sectoral progress around net zero and nature-positive goals. This first-of-a-kind multi-stakeholder engagement strategy for climate and nature was truly driven by the UAE’s ambition to host a truly inclusive climate conference that marshals full and broad support with engagement from all world regions.
In collaboration with global partners, including strategic partner, the Sustainable Markets Initiative, and delivery partners, International Finance Corporation, the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development, World Economic Forum, Asian Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IDB Invest, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and XPRIZE, the Forum convened 1000 business and philanthropy leaders alongside policymakers, to foster co-creation and collaboration and accelerate cross-sectoral progress around net zero and nature positive goals. Underpinned by the COP28 Action Agenda, the Forum addressed key climate priorities which, include fast-tracking a just and orderly energy transition; fixing climate finance; putting nature, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action; and underpinning everything with inclusivity.
On December 1, the Forum hosted a roundtable titled ‘Applying a Gender Lens to Climate Action – The Role of Philanthropies’, which discussed the most promising solutions for supporting gender-smart responses to climate change for positive co-impact, and the role philanthropic organisations can play in offering related financial and non-financial services. It was an honour and a pleasure for me as Founder and President of the Arab International Women’s Forum to participate on the roundtable and to share my insights on championing women’s empowerment at the intersection of gender and climate issues. I convey my warm thanks to Badr Jafar, Chair of the Forum and COP28 Special Representative for Business and Philanthropy, for the kind invitation.
I am also proud to share that AIWF unequivocally joined the Forum’s Call to Action, a call for philanthropic organisations to step-up their gender-sensitive climate actions as a follow-up of the communiqué philanthropies signed at the New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris in June 2023. Even though the pursuit of gender equality and environmental goals are mutually reinforcing, gender and environment-related considerations have been largely considered in silos, and philanthropic funders have a key role to play in strengthening climate financing that upholds gender equality commitments. AIWF is delighted to play our part in that process.
Haifa Al Kaylani
President & Founder
Arab International Women’s Forum
