On September 4, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) jointly held a high-level event with the theme, “Qatar’s Climate Leadership and Road to COP27” under the patronage of HE Minister of Environment and Climate Change Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser bin Ahmed bin Ali Al-Thani. The event, held at Sheraton Grand Hotel and Resorts in Doha, marked the official launch of a multi-year cooperation program between GGGI and MOECC on climate resilience and green growth.
More than 160 participants including ambassadors of several countries as well senior officials from ministries, private sector, academe, think tanks, and media organizations attended the event.
HE Minister of Environment Dr. Al-Thani delivered the welcoming remarks and noted that the issue of climate change is a national priority for the State of Qatar “During the past year, ambitious measures were taken to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030 in protecting the environment, green growth and limiting the effects of climate change, through the development of a national strategy for the environment and climate change and the preparation of a clear national action plan for climate change.”
Welcoming the participants, GGGI Director-General Frank Rijsberman lauded Qatar’s remarkable sustainability initiatives and highlighted GGGI’s role to facilitating the green economy transition in Qatar: “GGGI is here to support Qatar as an intergovernmental organization with the sole mandate of promoting green growth and climate resilience worldwide, both to support Qatar’s domestic climate action and as a delivery partner for Qatar’s international cooperation. In Qatar, we look forward to supporting the development of Qatar’s own climate policies and help identify opportunities for its implementation through green finance and green infrastructure projects.”
GGGI’s Qatar Country Representative Dr. Pranab Baruah presented the cooperation activities under the MOECC-GGGI cooperation, which involves the implementation of a number of projects to support the achievement of the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV) and its enabling strategies, particularly the Qatar Environment and Climate Change Strategy (QNE) and the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP). Key work streams include formulating green growth pathways, climate change adaptation, circular economy, knowledge sharing and capacity development, and tracking greenhouse gas emissions through a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system.
The opening plenary was followed by a high-level panel discussion composed of: Dr. Frank Rijsberman, GGGI Director-General; HE Ambassador Bader Omar Al-Dafa, Qatar’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Abdullah Al-manai, Director of the Meteorological Department at the General Authority of Civil Aviation. The dialogue focused on Qatar’s increasing role in climate action both locally and globally, thus reinforcing its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. The panel also highlighted the urgency of strengthening international cooperation as a key success factor for the upcoming COP27.
Qatar is one of the founding members of GGGI. The GGGI Qatar Office – which is a recognized diplomatic mission with Host Country Agreement from MOFA – is being hosted at MOECC following a successful scoping work in 2019 and signing of a multi-year agreement in late 2021. GGGI also has an agreement with the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) to implement climate change projects in developing countries as part of the State of Qatar’s USD 100 million global commitment to climate action.