Zimbabwe gets US$1.5 billion from Dubai

Global Carbon Investments (GCI), based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has entered a $1.5 billion agreement with Zimbabwe's Ministry of Environment for climate-related projects aimed at reducing forest emissions. The deal, signed in the presence of President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House, will target 7.5 million hectares.

Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, a member of the Dubai Royal family and Chairman of GCI, was also in attendance. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two parties will focus on Internationally Transferable Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOS), a framework that allows countries to transfer greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation outcomes to other countries or parties based in other countries.

According to GCI, "Critical financing will be directed towards prefinancing carbon credit projects in Zimbabwe, developed by Blue Carbon, a fully owned subsidiary of GCI and a specialized project developer in nature-based solutions. This significant development follows a recently signed MOU between Blue Carbon and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), leveraging FAB's target of $7.5 billion in sustainable financing investments. The Blue Carbon FAB collaboration aims to channel funding into critical carbon projects, paving the way for substantial financing opportunities of this nature."

Zimbabwe is currently grappling with extensive deforestation and land degradation, and this initiative is one of the measures aimed at addressing these issues.