Doha, January 22 (QNA) - The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) announced that it has joined an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum to establish a global coalition for direct foreign investment (FDI) in the field of climate alongside 14 investment agencies around the world as well as the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

The announcement of the new coalition, which represents about 1.8 billion citizens came during the World Economic Forum (Davos 2024) held in Switzerland. Invest Qatar is the only country in the region that is part of it.

Invest Qatar shared in a statement that the coalition is dedicated to driving climate-aligned growth and development. It addresses the critical climate finance gap, with investment authorities playing a pivotal role in bridging it. The coalition aims to share best practices, foster regional collaboration and create green investment opportunities.

A statement issued by the World Economic Forum said that the investment promotion agencies (IPAs) can help put climate FDI on the agenda. While undertaking their investment-related tasks, IPAs have a mandate to grow awareness of investment climate conditions and investment opportunities in their markets.

IPAs can take action by considering specific and targeted measures to attract, facilitate, and support climate FDI. There is also an opportunity for peer learning and experience sharing on measures that may be particularly effective to grow climate-friendly investment.

The statement also highlighted the importance of IPAs in working with public and private actors to create the enabling environment for climate FDI.

The World Economic Forum estimates that enhancing and increasing FDI for climate projects will be essential to meet a daunting climate finance gap, which stands at USD 5.8 and 5.9 trillion for developing countries in the pre-2030 period, at a time when IPAs can help anchor public and private climate finance commitments into tangible green growth projects.

IPAs can help anchor these new commitments in tangible domestic green growth projects, making FDI work for their climate-aligned growth and adaptation. The World Economic Forum recently published a climate FDI facilitation guidebook with specific actions that IPAs can use to do just that.

This comes as economies around the world have started to decarbonize, shifting to a carbon-neutral world. This shift will require significant financial resources to capitalize on the investments needed, and IPAs have a unique role to play in working with investors to support and enable this transition. (QNA)