REPORT ANNOUNCEMENT: Innovation in Islamic Finance: Green Sukuk for SDGs
New report estimates an additional US$30-50bn can be raised by 2025 through green and sustainability sukuk to deliver the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Indonesia – 28th September 2021, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), has today launched a pioneering report setting out the important role Islamic finance can play in delivering the finance needed across the world’s most vulnerable regions.
The UN Climate Summit (COP26) in Scotland, in less than six weeks’ time, brings together world leaders to hammer out a deal to reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The report shows how green sukuk bonds can provide a major part of the US$100bn in climate finance needed for developing countries.
UKIFC Managing Director Omar Shaikh presented the report’s findings to over 500 senior finance leaders at the first Islamic Finance and the Sustainable Development Goals Virtual Global Summit that took place today.
Sales of new Green sukuk bonds have grown from US$500m in 2017 to US$3.5bn in 2019. The Republic of Indonesia (ROI), in partnership with the UNDP, issued the world’s first Government green sukuk in March 2018 (raising US$1.25bn) and the world’s first retail green sukuk in November 2019 (raising IDR1.4trn or USD$104.4m).
The report takes a detailed look at the best practice approach to green sukuk taken in ROI and other Islamic finance regions.
REPORT FINDINGS:
- Upfront investment is needed to develop a green framework and independent certification to assure investors that green sukuk bonds are not greenwashing.
- Demand from western global investors for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investments gives green sukuk bonds the opportunity to attract major new investors who otherwise would not have considered sukuk bonds for their portfolios.
- Green or sustainability sukuk bonds might lower the cost of raising vital climate finance. Malaysia has seen the largest volume of sukuk issuances supported and facilitated by a number of Government initiatives.
- Indonesia has a very limited corporate sukuk market and has not seen any corporate green sukuk issuances. There is a need to ensure sukuk have a level playing field with no additional burdens in comparison to conventional bonds; in addition, tax incentives could encourage corporate sukuk issuances.
- The opportunity is there for Shariah scholars to positively influence ESG aspects as part of their Shariah review of sukuk issuances.
- A challenge within the Islamic finance industry is the general lack of experience and depth of knowledge in relation to ESG matters. It is recommended organisations such as the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions take a lead and develop guidance for Shariah scholars.
The principles of Islamic finance are underpinned by the objectives of Islamic law and match many of the aims and objectives of the agenda for sustainable development goals adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 to provide a shared blueprint for an urgent call for action by all countries to end poverty, improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
The report demonstrates how this unique alignment of the SDGs and Islamic finance provides a clear opportunity for green sukuk bonds to bridge the gap in private sector finance needed to meet countries’ climate targets and accelerate achieving their wider Sustainable Development Goals.
You can access the report in full here.
See also:
https://ukifc.com/sdg/
https://ifikr.isra.my/library/SR/1
Global Islamic Finance and SDGs Summit Launched
The UKIFC in partnership with UN and Islamic Development Bank is organising a virtual global summit on Islamic finance and the SDGs, to coincide with the UN General Assembly.
The summit will:
- Highlight the natural alignment between Islamic finance and the SDGs, based on the Maqasid Al-Shariah (higher goals of Islam);
- Examine some of the challenges for Islamic finance and the SDGs;
- Showcase the practical progress made by Islamic financial institutions on the SDGs, including multilateral organisations, governments, and commercial banks and asset managers; and
- Showcase the role for Islamic social finance in achieving the SDGs.
By focusing on the natural alignment between the Islamic faith and the SDGs, we will seek to drive engagement with and acceptance of the Goals among communities who might otherwise not engage with them. The summit will feature a mixture of high-level discussions about the global trends facing the Islamic finance industry, scholarly debate regarding the Goals, and practical showcases of SDGs in action in Islamic finance.
The Global Islamic Finance and SDGs Taskforce, initiated by the UKIFC, was launched by the UK Government together with IsDB to promote awareness and adoption of the SDGs amongst commercial Islamic financial institutions. This summit is informed by, and builds on, the work of the Taskforce and the UKIFC’s broader activities in promoting the SDGs and its work with GEFI as part of the Faith in Finance Path to COP workstream.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
- Dr Ahmed Al-Meraikhi, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General
- Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Board Member, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance
- Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa, CEO, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad
- Stella Cox CBE, Managing Director, DDCAP Group
- Rafe Haneef, CEO - Group Transaction Banking & Group Chief Sustainability Officer, CIMB Group
- Charles Haresnape, CEO, Gatehouse Bank
- Farmida Bi CBE, EMEA Chair, Norton Rose Fulbright
- Dr Akram Laldin, Executive Director, International Shariʽah Research Academy for Islamic Finance
- Arshad Mohamed Ismail, CEO, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad
- Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi, CEO, BIMB Investment Management Berhad
- Hajara Adeola, CEO, Lotus Capital Limited
- Omar Shaikh, Managing Director, UKIFC
To register your interest for the summit, follow the link to our sign up page.
UKIFC Featured on BBC Radio 4 Money Box
On Saturday 17th July, UKIFC were featured BBC Radio 4's Money Box (around the midday mark) discussing alternative Student Finance, and why Muslim students are not getting equal access to student loans. Whilst halal student finance has been in the pipeline for over eight years, the Department of Education has still yet to deliver on the promise first set out by former UK Prime Minister David Cameron in 2013.
You can watch a short 3 minute clip outlining the need for alternative student finance models below.
UKIFC launch 'Islamic Finance and the SDGs' report
The Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), in partnership with Malaysia based International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) and the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), has today launched the third report in its 4-part thought leadership series that aims to assist and encourage active engagement in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the global Islamic finance sector.
UKIFC Senior Adviser Sultan Choudhury will formally announce the report, to an audience of over 3,000 financial practitioners, at GEFI’s flagship annual Ethical Finance Summit.
The report provides an analysis of responsible banking in the Islamic finance sector, assessing the level of engagement with the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) amongst banks in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and analysing the approaches used by 9 Islamic finance signatories. It also features notes from interviews with Al Baraka Banking Group, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad, CIMB Group, Gatehouse Bank, Gulf International Bank (UK) and Jaiz Bank who have all shown notable leadership in responsible banking.
The PRB, which launched in 2019, is the world’s leading framework for responsible banking and is underpinned by six Principles that help signatory banks to align with the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement.
With its underlying Shariah principles, Islamic finance is naturally aligned to responsible banking and is well positioned to lead the financial services sector’s efforts towards achieving the SDGs. However, whilst a small number of organisations are making significant progress the report has highlighted the pressing need to raise awareness, in OIC member states and beyond, of responsible banking and the benefits to be achieved by integrating Shariah compliance with sustainable finance strategies and becoming PRB signatories.
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE REPORT INCLUDE:
- 49 of the 57 OIC member states do not contain any PRB signatory organisations.
- When the PRB was launched in 2019, 14.3% of the founding signatories were based in OIC member states. Now only 10.0% of the 221 PRB worldwide signatories are based within OIC member states despite the OIC member states having a collective population of over 1.82 billion (24% of the total world population).
- Of the 61 countries containing PRB signatory organisations, 13.1% are OIC member states.
- Within the 8 OIC members states that contain PRB signatories there are 22 signatory organisations, located in Africa (50.0%), Europe (27.3%) and Asia (22.7%).
- 38 PRB signatories offer Islamic finance products and services, which equates to 17.2% of all PRB signatories.
- The majority of Islamic finance institutions that are PRB signatories, 27 of the 38 organisations, are based outside OIC member states, across Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas.
- Only 3 of the 38 institutions offering Islamic finance products or services are fully Shariah-compliant, namely Al Baraka Banking Group (Bahrain), Gatehouse Bank (UK) and Jaiz Bank (Nigeria).
- The most popular Islamic product / service offered by non-OIC member states signatories is corporate finance, with 40.7% of signatories offering this. Amongst OIC member states the most popular product / services are personal banking and personal, business and corporate banking, at 27.3%.
PRB signatories are currently underrepresented in OIC member states, suggesting the PRB should increase its activities within OIC member states. Awareness of the PRB in OIC member states could be increased through working groups, targeted awareness and outreach activities. Given the mutual benefits of becoming PRB signatories to both Islamic finance institutions and the responsible banking industry, increasing engagement should be treated as a priority.
PRESS RELEASE: Major report finds only 1% of Principles for Responsible Investment worldwide signatories are based within Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states
REPORT ANNOUNCEMENT
ISLAMIC FINANCE AND THE PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT
"Only 1% of Principles for Responsible Investment worldwide signatories are based within Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states.”
UK – 24th March 2021, The Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), in partnership with Malaysia based International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA), has launched the second report in its 4-part thought leadership series that aims to assist and encourage active engagement in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the global Islamic finance sector.
The report provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of responsible investing in the Islamic finance sector, assessing the level of engagement with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) amongst financial institutions in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and analysing the approaches and terminology used by 12 Islamic finance signatories. It also features detailed case studies on BIMB Investment Management Berhad, DDCAP Group, GIB UK and Sedco Capital who have all shown notable leadership in responsible investing.
The PRI, which launched in 2006, is the world’s leading framework for responsible investment and is underpinned by six voluntary and aspirational investment Principles that support signatories to incorporate Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues into their investment practices. This enable signatories to align with the broader sustainable objectives of society – as currently best defined by PRI as the SDGs. The report uses the PRI as a proxy to demonstrate engagement with the broader fast growing global responsible investment and ethical finance market and explores if the Islamic finance sector is successfully engaging in such or missing out on a multi-trillion dollar commercial opportunity.
With its underlying Shari’ah principles, Islamic finance is naturally aligned to, not only support but, lead the financial services sector’s efforts towards achieving the SDGs. However, whilst a small number of organisations are making significant progress the report has highlighted the pressing need to raise awareness, in OIC member states and beyond, of responsible investing and the ‘triple bottom line’ benefits to be achieved by integrating Shariah compliance with ESG strategies.
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE REPORT INCLUDE:
- Of the 83 countries containing PRI signatories only 12 are OIC member states.
- These 12 OIC member states have 37 PRI signatories, comprising 24 investment managers, 4 asset owners and 9 service providers.
- Despite the OIC member states having a collective population of over 1.82 billion (24% of the total world population) only 37 (1%) of the 3,575 PRI worldwide signatories are based within them.
- Between 2008 and 2016 there were 9 PRI signatories based in OIC member states but since 2017 a further 28 new signatories have joined the PRI.
- Responsible investing presents an opportunity for Islamic asset managers to tap into emerging agnostic global liquidity pools seeking SDG-aligned products and increase their assets under responsible management.
- Aligning Shariah compliant and ESG investment strategies supports the tayyib concept enabling Islamic financial institutions to deliver financial returns and societal impact within the established shariah compliance framework. The tayyib thematic within Islamic finance presents one of the biggest growth opportunities for the industry.
With OIC countries amongst those in greatest need of SDG investment more work must be done to raise the profile and increase adoption of the PRI amongst the 57 OIC member states as well as the global Islamic finance investment community. By working together Islamic finance institutions have the opportunity to develop and position Shariah-compliant ESG engagement as a beacon of responsible investment.
ENDS
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT – https://ukifc.com/sdg/
“Islamic finance is naturally aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But the low level of engagement with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in the OIC region means there is a huge opportunity. Through our Global Islamic Finance and SDGs Taskforce we have the platform to work with PRI and the Islamic finance sector to increase awareness, promote understanding and encourage adoption of the Principles.”
Omar Shaikh, Board Member, UKIFC
“We welcome this important report which aims to build on the nascent development of ESG investment and the SDGs amongst the Islamic finance community. The alignment of people, profit and planet and the drive to achieve a sustainable global financial system is a universal one; we invite asset owners, investment managers and service providers working in Islamic finance to join us at PRI to further this mission.”
Fiona Reynolds, CEO, Principles for Responsible Investment
UKIFC appear on MetroTVNews Indonesia
UKIFC founder Omar Shaikh appeared on Indonesia's MetroTVNews to discuss Islamic finance, and its relationship to sustainable and responsible finance more broadly. Watch now:
UKIFC launch 'Pioneers of Islamic Finance' series on International Women's Day
UKIFC recently launched our brand new 'Pioneers of Islamic Finance' series on International Women's Day, highlighting Stella Cox's contribution to the UK's Islamic finance industry.
Stella sat down with Omar Shaikh of the UKIFC to discuss her experiences as one of the UK’s pioneers in Islamic finance. Stella speaks about her early days at Kleinwort Benson, her friendship with Shariah scholars, her journey founding DDCAP, one of the leading intermediaries in Islamic finance, and what the future holds for Islamic finance in the UK and beyond.
Islamic finance has a long history, and is gathering momentum as a new generation embrace the power of digital technology. UKIFC has uniquely curated a Pioneers of Islamic Finance series with two key objectives:
- Use the wisdom and learning of the pioneers inform the next generation of business models, entrepeneurs and leaders in Islamic finance
- Preserve and document the journey of the pioneers and celebrate their contribution to the field
This fascinating series exlores the personal highs and lows and the professional successes and struggles they experienced. We ask what they would have done differently if they could turn back time and what advice they have for the next generation. Find out more at ukifc.com/pioneers
Forthcoming Interviews
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Amjid Ali -
Shabbir Randeree -
M. Iqbal Asaria -
Sultan Choudhury
The series of interviews is ongoing; contact us at info@ukifc.com if you would like to suggest a Pioneer whose story should be told.
UKIFC is proud to support the Path to COP26 campaign
UKIFC is proud to be a signatory of the Path to COP26 campaign from the Global Ethical Finance Initiative. We are supporting the Faith in the SDGs stream of the campaign, which seeks to bring together, diverse global faith groups to drive change in finance through ethical leadership and stewardship of their endowments, bringing faith to finance, and finance to faith at the crucial Glasgow summit in 2021
Alongside UKIFC, signatories include major financial institutions such as NatWest Group, Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments, professional bodies such as Chartered Banker and CISI, and campaign groups and NGOs including Make My Money Matter and NatureScot.
Muslim students still waiting for government funding plan - BBC News
UKIFC co-founder Omar Shaikh appeared on a BBC News video explaining some of the challenges that Muslim students are facing in accessing Shariah-compliant student finance - watch now.
Omar Shaikh delivers virtual lecture to World Muslim Communities Council
UKIFC Managing Director Omar Shaikh delivered a virtual lecture with the World Muslim Communities Council, on Saturday 5th December 2020. Entitled "Moral Economy and Green Recovery After Covid-19: Islamic Awqaf and Finance", the lecture affirmed that Islamic finance is moral financing and a means to carry out community activities and achieve human happiness.
He added: “Islamic finance is a financing product that has a clear structure and focuses on alignment and avoids usury, because it is a green economy that achieves recovery with returns, social benefits and blessings in money, as well as it provides solutions to global challenges.”
He explained that in the face of the outbreak of the epidemic, we must seize opportunities for Islamic finance and endowments, as there are several challenges facing financing operations and traditional bank shares such as supply chains. He is stressing that the demand for products for the benefit of societies has led to an increase in profits and reduced costs for banks.
He called for a focus on ethical economics and sustainable banking through investment in markets and Sharia governance, as well as on sustainability goals by contributing to the eradication of poverty and achieving gender equality, by harmonizing Islamic finance. He is calling for rebuilding a new system of Islamic finance based on human welfare and serving the society.
During the lecture, Omar pointed out the experience of the countries of Scotland and the United Arab Emirates in being among the first countries that cared about the happiness of the individual to achieve emotional intelligence.
The World Muslim Communities Council is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.