UNEP FI has over 54 members in Africa and Middle East, including approximately 38 banks and 16 insurers. Work in the region focuses on sharing industry best practice and building capacity on sustainability issues amongst financial institutions, including climate adaptation and financial health and inclusion. Working in collaboration with regional members and local partners, activities in the region include delivering tools and resources to support members in the implementation of UNEP FI frameworks to integrating sustainability in their core business practices. Key priorities also focus on engagement with stakeholders in the sustainable finance space including regulators, in particular central banks, as well as banking and insurance associations, local sustainability networks and policy makers.
Key focus
The workplan for 2024 for the region highlights the following priorities:
We will continue supporting members in the implementation of UNEP FI and sustainability frameworks and commitments, in adherence with regulatory requirements. This will be done through streamlined group support and bilateral engagement. These activities also include the engagement of members for regional capacity building, in line with their priorities and requirements.
We will continue facilitating the sharing of insights and best practices through peer exchanges and engagement opportunities. These activities will help build interlinkages between various existing frameworks such as the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), and the Vulnerable 20 Sustainable Insurance Facility (V20 SIF).
In partnership with other organizations and standard setters, we will convene finance networks, facilitate partnerships, enhance regulatory engagement and build capacity to raise awareness at executive level within organisations. This will enhance dialogue between decisionmakers, their organisations and partners to strengthen the societal and corporate and commitments that address climate, nature and social issues that are most relevant to the region
Are you already a UNEP FI member? Find the latest regional news, key resources and more in the Members’ Area.
Regional Implementation Programme & Training
UNEP FI has a range of training and region-specific activities in online and in workshop formats. For further information on each of these offerings, please visit the Learning and Development for Finance Professionals section.
UNEP FI also offers a wide range of implementation support activities to members, consisting of regionally tailored workshops designed to support finance professionals implement frameworks such as the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) and Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). These activities cover climate adaptation, nature, financial health and inclusion and most recently, climate mitigation in collaboration with GFANZ. Access the full calendar and check for updates in the Members‘ Area. Please contact Gabor Gyura for any questions on the regional implementation programme and Youssef Boumaiz for climate mitigation activities.
Non-members can also view the different activities they have access to in their regions here.
