As part GEFI’s Faith in the SDGs workstream, 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 the sign up page.