UNGLEP teams up with the UAE’s 2031 Global Strategic Partnership Office to promote the implementation of innovative climate finance initiatives for COP30 in Dubai.    The Paris Agreement, a historic instrument unanimously adopted by 195 Parties, establishes the long-term objectives and core principles for global climate governance, providing a systematic framework and legal basis for addressing climate change in the decades to come. Articles 6, 9 and 13 of the Agreement underscore the importance of leveraging synergies between market and non-market approaches, encouraging countries to mobilize private sector finance, advance carbon market development, foster innovative climate finance cooperation, and establish a unified global carbon credit mechanism under United Nations oversight to ensure a transparent and credible system for reporting and accounting of climate action.

In this context, the United Nations Global Leadership and ESG Programme (UNGLEP) and the UAE Presidential Office’s 2031 Global Strategic Partnership Office have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entitled “Building an Innovative Climate Finance Model to Promote High-Quality Achievement of Paris Agreement Goals.” The initiative explicitly envisages the integration of innovative technologies and ISO ESG standards to develop a “transparent regulatory framework for digital trading of global carbon credits and carbon assets, coupled with a governance mechanism for rights affirmation and fulfillment.”

To advance the implementation of this initiative, under the coordination of the UAE Presidential Office’s 2031 Global Strategic Partnership Office and the leadership of Sheikh Hamad Rakadh Salem Hamad Alameri of the UAE royal family, MaskEX and the Social Impact Investment Fund (SIIF) have jointly established the “Climate and Energy Investment Digital Asset Exchange Group (Dubai)” in Dubai.

The platform will leverage Web3.0 and blockchain technologies to systematically address key challenges including limited liquidity in climate and clean energy investments, fragmentation of international carbon markets, and insufficient transparency in the oversight of trading and offset mechanisms. It will deliver comprehensive digital asset solutions and efficient trading infrastructure. Going forward, the platform is positioned to serve as a central mechanism for digital asset transactions related to climate investment and financing under sovereign Nations’ Determined Contributions (NDCs), reinforcing Dubai’s role as a global strategic hub for climate and clean energy investment digital assets.