Sustainable Capital and Innovation in Green Finance

Excellencies, ladies and I think I see a few gentlemen. Welcome to sustainable capital and innovation in green finance. Delighted to be with you today. The conversational center around capital, climate, and collective capabilities. For those that are familiar with your moderator, he has an addiction, an affinity, and an affliction for alliteration and likes to center and frame conversations around digitalization, decarbonization, and diversification with our females in finance here today.

For those that familiar with the energy space, we often center our conversations as well around availability, affordability, and accessibility. Before I introduce our star study lineup, uh, movers and shakers, just a quick question to ensure everybody's caffeinated here, the share of women operating in the renewable sector. Anybody want to shout out the lady with the lovely scoff at the front? If you could shout out, you get a coffee, dinner, or lunch if you get it right.

Just a number, nothing else. The percentage of women operating in the renewable sector. Anybody has a guess? 14

14 it's 32% everybody and for when we when we talk about the big global climate funds what is the percentage of those that are operating and investing in the Mina region is it above 10% or below 10%. Hands up if it's above 10%. Great we've got some optimist it's a measly 6.6% everybody. So a lot more to do.

What are the takeaways from that? Big growth with the wh women with women in this space and of course a massive capital gap. So there there is of course a shift as we're seeing in terms of the momentum around money markets and mobility and this drive of aspiration to acceleration ideas to investment pledges to portfolios and we're looking forward to discussing all of that today. We have with us this afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

Her excellency Maral Mansori who is a board member at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is also the vice president of government relations at Seammens. We have the senior vice president Fathmadin at this crypt dur. We also have La Merlini who is the managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at KA Association. Let's dive right in.

Right. So, oh fine if you'd like to clap. So like to just jump right in. Um Mara, you're on home turf, so I'm going to pick on you first. Is sustainable economics now smart?

So first of all, thank you and thank you everyone for being here and uh for being here in the finance week. So the question is is sustainability smart economics, right? Yes, it is. Number one, the first thing is that it adds value. It adds value and creates a solid foundation for companies and organizations to grow to be future ready for this diverse economy.

And now sustainability is really not a cost right for organization. It's more of a process. It's more about accelerating and and having that growth mentality. And that's the main reason. Now for speaking in the Mina region uh talking about the UAE and Saudi especially perfect thank you so talking about the UA and Saudi especially sustainability has been embedded in the national industrial strategies and that's something amazing and and you know going forward with that not just Saudi and UAE different regions and what's even much more uh great about that is that technology is the other hand of So when we talk about technology, we talk about uh you know um digital twins, AI, uh smart energy systems.

This all uh puts a hand on and cuts cost for organizations. Uh it optimizes productivity and uh in the end it is a benefit for national strategies and national agendas and organizations as themselves for doing that. And I think that's important. It is not how determined we are in adopting sustainability. It's more of how fast we move.

And this is important because the world is getting competitive. Each organization is competing with one another. And now if you ask yourself, the question used to be how much will it cost us to adopt to to be sustainable? Now the question shifted to how in the long term how much will it cost us if we are not sustainable and this is important to take into consideration. Thank you Mar.

This whole concept of discount rates and whether you should invest early to benefit later is something that we grapple with across sectors no different here today. Uh Fatma, you're at this crypt. What are your perspectives on sustainable investments as smart economics, intelligent economics?

So I think we've also really seen this narrative shift in the last five plus years. Um we are seeing that governments uh industry leaders investors are really seeing it as a core driver for competitiveness for FDI attraction and also for long-term national resilience. So the conversation has really uh has really changed and it's really about strate um sustainability being an industrial strategic conversation as opposed to previously at this crook which is a 200year-old engineering legacy organization made up of this crook steel we have this crook automotive we have um marine systems material services and decarbon technologies the hat that I'm wearing today is on behalf of decarbon technologies is representing Fisen UDA. We are at Fisen UDA a 100-year-old engineering and technology organization. And although we are not walking away from our heritage, we are definitely accelerating the green growth in our previous kind of century long-term knowhow of how to transition across.

So, we're not leaving the gray or the the blue, but we are definitely looking at transitioning to the green. Um so we are supporting that with lowcarbon um projects in hydrogen in ammonia in sustainable aviation fuels um and other down downstream um value chemicals. Um I think as Dr. Sultan said at the opening of Adipek it's no longer about energy transition but really about energy addition and that's exactly what we're doing at this UDA. not walking away from our heritage or our core, but we're really looking at how we can accelerate the growth and how we can move into this space.

Um, as Mara rightly said, um, that it's no longer, yes, the long-term, uh, front-loaded costs are high at the moment, but the the the costs of not transitioning now in the future are actually going to be higher. Um so I think ultimately in order to build this green industrial transformation at scale we need capital, we need clarity and we need confidence. And I really believe GCC especially the UAE has this to drive it forward. And again, if we look at um Stratian, for example, um one of their reports recently stated that if the GCC um looks at directing green investments outside of six major non-oil sectors, that being power, water, construction, uh waste management, transportation, and agriculture, we could potentially um increase our GDP value by two trillion USD and create up to um a million jobs by 2030. 30.

Thank you so much Fatman. Extra um extra marks for capital clarity confidence. We love our alliteration here on this stage. And now bring some investment infrastructure and innovation to the discussion. Uh lauda you are at the chartered alternative investment association.

Could you give us your sort of your perspective on this from the investment standpoint?

Exactly. And I really like when you mentioned the importance of capital and the cost of non-transitioning. So that it's uh definitely something to to to bear in mind also because if you think about ESG, if you think about long-term sustainability, inevitably it's linked with and to the growth of alternative investments because capital formation is in the real asset world is in the private markets. So as we've heard in the past uh session during these days there is like a goal to to reach alphas and from an investor perspective and if alpha is the goal diversification is the strategy. So we should stop thinking ESG like a peripheral bet that belongs thanks to these heavy regulation taxonomy and other apparatus around the ESG concept in the operations to bring it up front.

So it's a part of the decision making tool of sophisticated investors. I recently um you know uh was really happy to present the other day in Oman um the total portfolio approach our new paper that was derived from the experiences of leading sovereign wealth funds especially also in this area and um they basically say if we want to transition to a total portfolio approach and I invite you to download that paper on our website we really need to take into accounts four elements governance culture competition for capital but most importantly is the factor lens So if we invest with the factor lens mentality of having ESG criteria adopted in the portfolio construction from a sophisticated investor viewpoint that would be a great great shift and it's happening now in the Middle East at sovereign wealth fund level but also family offices.

Thank you so much La just to come back to you in the audience. Um we've heard a little bit of the private sector perspective on this but do we feel that policy makers also share this sentiment of investing patient capital in sustainable investments that are have long-term horizons of course we have a denzian tale of two regions with some who are extremely financially strong hash Abu Dhabi capital of capital but of course those that are not as financially um robust. Just a show of hands for those who feel that the policy makers share the same sentiment as the private sector around 5%. Thank you so much. We'd now like to come back and just sort of get some perspectives.

Mw if I may circle back to you on on this blended finance narrative. How is it evolving? How are you seeing it evolving in the region UAE beyond um co what do we need to know? So when it comes to blended finance, it's progressing quite uh quite high and uh focusing on something that just I want to recap on that that sustainability is a process right now. It's it is not a report anymore.

It's a process that investors focus on for the high ROI into it. And now when it comes to the MINA region and in the UAE, so we have clear strategies, we have clear D directions supporting different national strategies, private public partnerships. Uh this all really brings it together in in in one bucket, right? And when I repeated the sustainability is uh not a cost but a process. I'll share maybe a few examples of what private and public partnerships brings on.

So uh me also representing seammens in a way uh we worked with the ministry of uh energy and infrastructure. So there was a phase where we had uh to strategize for retrofitting about 300 federal buildings. Phase one was 60 federal buildings. Now the conclusion of this with this partnership we brought down the savings 27% in energy savings and about 30% uh in water savings. This really showcases and highlights how public and private partnerships works together and how the momentum and private companies right now are not just focused in pilot projects.

They are focused in large scale projects that really benefit the national agenda. And if I go back to uh rephrasing and what I say, it is not just about the numbers. It's not about financials. It's about partnerships. It's about how we work together, how we keep this momentum together and how we advance together, not as a benchmark or a blueprint in the region, however, a blueprint in the global phase.

Do do you find that the UAE successes are being exported or shared or borrowed?

Of course, 100%. I can share another example too.

So, we have also another partnership with the ministry of in the ministry of advanced technology of industry and advanced technology which is assessing about 300 manufacturing companies. From these 300 manufacturing companies we assess how digitally mature they are, how sustainable they are and how ready they are to go into the market. This all links with different government incent incentives investors and how can we support them from the government and from the private sector in expanding whether it's in technology whether it's in capital and I and this is uh something that can be a blueprint for other even countries to implement.

Thank you so much Fatma. Can you offer us a thesisian perspective on blended finance? Tell us a little bit about your activities in the region and your views on this.

Yep. So um I believe blended finance is definitely the backbone um to deliver largecale lowcarbon projects and I'll give you a few examples as to how fist and crook uda have accelerated our growth in these new sectors and areas. So the first one being our carbon toke chem project in Germany where we received 195 million um euro public funding to support us with firstly early research and development um but secondly to enable multi- partners to convert steel mill admissions into um ammonia and methanol. The second example being our hydrogen-based green still project in Dubber which received um a two billion euro uh public funding to enable and support us with CO2 reduction of 3.5 million tons per year.

More recently, we have our Uniper ammonia cracking demo plant, which is a precursor for a larger scale terminal that we are building in Germany to help um Germany hit their 20 to 30% hydrogen demands by 2030. And um the the last but not least um currently in development stage is our um methanol to SAF demo plant being established um in Europe as well at the moment. And again that's to enable the blended finance to do these demo plants to then obviously scale up and support. So blended finance is definitely an enabler um and it really supports first movers um and enables them to successfully accelerate their growth.

Thank you F. Do you see huge potential for this encrypt in the region as well?

Yep. So we are currently in discussions in the region at the moment based on our demo plants. we have already um um we have already built in Germany but based on that we are now looking at accelerating that growth in the Mina region so we are currently in discussions of doing that.

Thank you. Thank you Lara. your views on this from the from call it the European meets the EMIA perspective on this if you

absolutely there will be very succent also because we've uh we've noticed as Kaya like um a global uh professional organization in the alternative investment space numbers talk by themselves if you look at all the combination of traditional and alternative assets we are now at US dollars 120 trillions if you take only the alternative investment part is 25 trillion. So approximately uh 20% that it's set to grow to 30 trillion by 2030 and especially in this part of the world. And what I want to say here is that if you look at the returns these private markets and alternatives in general are accountable for 54% of return. So that's definitely a no-brainer that where is the market going and where is the talent not only the capital formation but the talent formation is is uh residing

and from your I mean you're with a charted institute are you seeing a lot of pickup on the sort of training budgets is that something that you've been seeing or

yes again and I think that this part of the world is doing magnificently well because there are a lot of incentive a lot of opportunities and a lot of consideration for the next gen which is for at the heart of what will be the future especially if you have sustainability themes involved.

Thank you. Mara want to circle back to you. Women in finance in partnership with Atlantic Council and First Abu Dhabi Bank. You sit on the board of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I believe the UAE has the highest proportion of female leaders both in Parliament and at the Federal National Council.

That's the government side. On the business side, we've seen in the region it's some 19%. Where do you see this going? How is it developing? What more can be done?

Should more be done? Um, I'm being provocative with that question mark of, you know, tomatoes thrown at me. Mara, tell us.

I think this is a favorite question of mine to be honest, especially when I'm an advocate for women. Um, so women right now they're in diverse industries, right? And it's clear that they're progressing. Progressing whether it's in energy, finance, infrastructure. It's just that clear.

And even though all of that is not just about progression, it's more about decision- making. Decision making in large scale investments, decision- making in strategies that influence the national agendas, decision making in geopolitical uh negotiations. So women are really going forward and the main reason the main drive of this is our leadership and I think whether it's it's a national leadership or an organizational leadership that backbone is a must and it's needed um and when it comes to also as me speaking from a personal perspective as an Emirati woman right now working in the private sector and also representing the government sector the leadership has not stopped supporting us in that way from uh upskilling uh making us ready for future industries um connect not just connecting with us with ecosystems but also contributing how can we get global ecosystems in the UAE um so there was a woman I met two days ago and um her name was SEMA she has a company called um invest in women or I think Paul is somewhere in the audience can correct me so they take um so they have an alumni of 4,000 girls who are trained uh and gets to JP Morgan gets to the best institution financial institutions and this negotiation this discussion that happened two days ago is how can we really partner and not duplicate the same thing but partner with a US-based company here in the UAE so with us as women having all these benefits I think my main and to conclude this discussion it's not what we are doing right now it's we need to lead with purpose and this is the main thing we need to influence we need to create a big impact and we need to get the young woman right now ready and much more ready for the newer landscape that's coming

thank you and do you feel that the UA not has has a cheat mode because it's a small population with with you know big capacities or is there is is there something that you could share with other parts of the region

uh can you clarify that

so if you are a north aan African state with lower capacities and larger populations. What are the kind of things that the private sector policy makers could or should be thinking about?

I I think it's more of advocating for women in a way and also women always have this empathy and and I think yes, it's true. I'm not going against that. But it's it's also about upskilling uh investing in their development

being part of a board being part of an organization I think that push would really make a difference uh in different regions in different countries because when a woman walks in a boardroom and feeling that she is just known as a single woman there of course she will be she will stay quiet and just be a listener right but with the with investment ment when it comes to leadership skills she will talk so I think with these type of investments from financial institutions would be beneficial

thank you Marwa Fodma could you I know you've done a lot of work on this and you have the UK perspective the UAE perspective and vicariously the German perspective tell us a little bit about your views on this

um so we have definitely seen a rise of women taking more strategic leadership roles across government entities um organizations ations, banks, sovereign wealth funds, etc. And if you look at the GCC gender index board for 2025, there has been an increase on women sitting on boards from 5.2% in 2024 to 6.8% in 2025. So, there has definitely been that increase.

I think if I look at it from a personal perspective, my transitioning from oil and gas into energy wasn't accidental. It was very intentional and it was driven by my two daughters who are now aged 16 and 17. But back then it was very much a case of they asked me a question on whether my role in the oil and gas industry was purposeful, impactful, and whether I felt I was leaving a legacy. And when they asked me that question, that really hit and I was like, okay, what am I doing and what do I want to do in the future? And I think we're talking about women, but I'm trying to incorporate the whole ecosystem, talking about the youth as well.

Because when I transitioned into the energy sector, my girls also followed that path. My daughter was asked to join Disney Academy. She actually rejected because she wanted to use her voice in a more powerful meaningful way and sing based of based off renewable energy as opposed to joining Disney Academy and we were actually going to conferences together. So the likes of COP Expo, she was invited for the opening of FII as well. We were able to embrace that together.

So she came from the youth perspective. I was there as a leader. um and she's off to university in eight months and looking at incorporating sustainability into her degree program as well. So for me it's really about how do we bring this whole ecosystem together. It's not just about women leaders but it's also looking at the youth who are potentially going to be these female leaders.

I was at a university talk um to master students two weeks ago for a business school in UAE and again exceptional candidates but if we're talking about females the female talent in the room was extraordinary. you. They're very curious. They're ambitious. Um they want to proceed but again they are looking for this ecosystem to support them and build them up to the next steps.

So it's really about how can we bring this all together because yes we are trying to do something but we need the youth to fulfill and uh see this through.

So I think it's combining that together.

Thank you Fodma. I haven't come across decibels to to energy before. So I like that. La could you give us the kaya perspective on this?

Yes definitely. I think we have to distinguish what is investment in women and investments for women and the uh financial industry has been extremely creative in in elaborating solutions rather than structure that could fit the first category for women. So you know especially with this wealth transfer and the nextgen and all these um you know opportunities that we have ahead of us for investing in women the situation is a little bit different I'm afraid. I see if you see the latest data there is datadriven advocacy that proves that um all men le investment teams systematically underperform those who are more diverse or have a predominance of women. So this is the case to invite sophisticated investor to adopt the GLI lens the gender lens investment um uh approach and make sure that u women's teams are also selected and the last thing that I believe we still have a lot to do is the financing of the VC if you look at the VC space only unfortunately um one between one and 3% receive uh financing for women led teams and we really need to change that paradigm time because otherwise we do not advance in the sustainability goals that we have in mind.

Absolutely. Actually the global average and amina average are almost neck andneck at 1.82%. Exactly.

As we wrap up uh one sentence, what are we looking for in 2026? We have just 20 odd days left until the new year. What are we looking forward to in 2026? You can't say the World Cup and you can't say the 250th anniversary of the US.

Mara,

you always start to do. I'll give it to

You're on home turf. I'm afraid you're on home turf. I think for 2026 I think I just give one word and this is a word used by the founding fatherh it is prosperity let's prosper and let's just go forward in in every way possible whether it's personal whether it's professional just moving and progressing how we are doing here in the UAE and you know implementing it globally

thank you so much Fatma

oh um I'm looking forward to my daughter going off to university and for me to champion and support her success.

STEM or uh humanities or social sciences?

All of it.

All of it. Lara,

very simple. Building a culture of alternative investment, being able also to incorporate the disruptors and especially the innovation that we see in this industry. Thanks.

Thank you, La. Before we just give our starstudded lineup a round of applause, who believes that this time next year, women will be even more integrated into the financial renewables and finance space in the UAE and beyond around 20%. On that note, I'd like to thank our incredible speakers for discussing climate, capital, how it's converging at its crossroads at its important time and we need more females in finance at the capital of capital and across the Middle East and North Africa where we continue to discuss money, markets and mobility. On that note, thank you very much everybody and thank you to our speakers.