UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, H.E. Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, Sheds a Spotlight on the UAE's Climate Financing Strides at DFS 2025 UAE government's efforts aim to make climate action "affordable, accessible and at scale to the most vulnerable communities," Dr. Al Dahak notes.

During a fireside chat on day one of the Dubai Fintech Summit 2025 -the third edition of an annual event by DIFC that convenes regional and global fintech stakeholders, which was held from May 12-13 this year- H.E. Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, noted that the UAE "has always been a supporter for countries to achieve their climate action and climate agenda."

Moderated by Lenah Hassaballah, editor and presenter at CNN Business Arabic, the conversation put a spotlight on the intersection of sustainability, policy, and economic growth.

The UAE's Loss and Damage Fund -an initiative launched during 2023's COP28 which is aimed at assisting developing countries most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change- was the opening point of discussion. "I would like to start by reminding everyone that the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund happened on the very first day of COP28, where we witnessed the pledge from the UAE of US$100 million to support this fund," Dr. Al Dahak noted. "And from there, we have seen the ball rolling and the momentum being gained. Up until today -as of March 2025- we have US$766 million pledged into the Loss and Damage Fund from 25 countries."

Dr. Al Dahak then emphasized that the UAE has been deeply committed to aiding the communities that have been the first to be affected by the ongoing climate crisis- a pivotal reason behind the formation of the Fund in the first place. "It was essential to make sure that this fund is moving forward because, well, the UAE…we're always about impactful action, and we have seen the need for this," Dr. Al Dahak added. "And the operationalization of this fund shows the global commitment toward achieving or supporting those countries and their climate agendas. Now, since then, we have seen the progress in this fund as per the third board meeting in September 2024, which took place in Baku…So we can see now that all the groundwork has been laid for this fund to operationalize and become into action. Now, we need to make sure through all international conversations and through multilateral platforms that are focused on climate action, that those countries who have committed and pledged to support this fund -which was announced in COP29 in Baku to be currently fully operationalized- continue to translate those pledges into actions to make sure that resources are available and accessible for those countries and the most vulnerable communities at the moment."

These opening remarks from Dr. Al Dahak eventually steered the fireside chat towards the urgency surrounding, and opportunities presented by, aligning financial systems with climate goals. At the crux of this conversation was the ALTÉRRA Fund- said to be the world's largest climate investment fund with a goal to mobilize US$250 billion globally by 2030 towards climate-related investments and initiative that supports the global transition to a low-carbon economy. Launched in the midst of 2023's COP28 in the UAE, it aims to not only mobilize capital for climate initiatives, particularly in developing countries, but also seeks to bridge the climate finance gap.

But Dr. Al Dahak noted that even before addressing the aforementioned issues, the ALTÉRRA Fund sought to, first and foremost, "change the people's perception about investment."

"We want people to know that investment, the return on investment and the return on the environment with respect to climate action and climate agenda can go hand in hand," she said. "Two words we have been hearing from Dr. Sultan Al Jaber [the COP28 President] is that we have to be practical and pragmatic. So we have to always ensure that we're translating action in a way that is providing more innovative solutions but also making the investment where it matters. The ALTÉRRA Fund started, or rather was announced, in COP 28 with a commitment of $30 billion [from the UAE]. And it is designed, from the very beginning, to mobilize up to $250 billion by 2030 and with a completely different paradigm than what is understood to be, or what is looked at, as investment funds."

Ultimately, these efforts by the UAE are to, quite simply, make climate action "affordable, accessible and at scale to the most vulnerable communities," reiterated Dr. Al Dahak- a strategy that moderator Hassaballah noted as a "win-win situation." "The most important thing is that it's designed with the right return on investment model but at the same time the right return on environment as well," Dr. Al Dahak declared.

As the conversation then moved into the realms of climate change challenges, the growing significance of clean energy models and the need to create more innovative models of climate financing. Dr. Al Dahak further stressed upon the UAE's role in "green transition" and in helping businesses efficiently reach their net zero goals.

Watch the full video to gather more insights from this DFS 2025 fireside chat!