Brussels, Belgium, 15 September 2022 -President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Group Chairman, HE Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, says food and climate crises intertwined. As the developing world is still reeling from the deep impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and major geopolitical and trade tensions which have dislocated global food and energy markets, Dr. Al Jasser’s timely remarks addressed  the “ 2022 Arab-DAC Dialogue on Development” hosted by the European Union on 15^th September  in Brussels..

He highlighted the importance of supporting livelihoods and ramping up investment in agricultural production and agricultural value chains to stabilize global food markets. He further underlined IsDB’s commitment to working with clients and partners to harness technological, financial and institutional innovations to crowd-in private investment, through Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ). The IsDB President reiterated IsDB’s readiness to work with DAC partners to deliver a timely response to the food crisis and to leverage additional resources and capabilities.

Dr. Al Jasser called for a joined up response to fragile situations to harmonize collective action.

Dr. Al Jasser also highlighted that blended financing mechanisms provide a good bridge between humanitarian and development assistance, stressing that the humanitarian assistance should be designed with an exit strategy to avoid creating unnecessary dependencies and should serve as a steppingstone for development assistance.

He highlighted IsDB’s commitment to the alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement, adding that climate finance is set to represent 35 percent of IsDB’s annual commitments by 2025. As the region gears up to host in succession COP27 and COP28, IsDB chief welcomed the opportunity to work with DAC members on climate finance and green transition.