Riham ElGizy

Riham ElGizy has over 20 years of international experience dedicated to impact-related investments through her extensive work as a leader in mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategy and business development experience. She was formerly head of Saudi Aramco’s Investment valuations and structuring, the function responsible for advising and formulating investment decisions for corporate and executive management, as well as government institutions. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, she spent 16 years with BP in North America and North Africa.

ElGizy has a track record in originating and executing energy, clean technology, and renewable energy transactions across the globe. She has advised strategy and investment boards and led negotiations with governments and privately held institutions.

ElGizy is a Sloan fellow MBA (MIT Sloan School of Management) and during her time at MIT, she worked on projects promoting sustainable economic growth in emerging markets through the deployment of innovative technology solutions and climate change simulations.

She is currently CEO of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). In her role at the helm of the VCM, she has launched the first voluntary carbon market in the MENA region and led the single largest voluntary carbon market auction to ever take place.

Session Overview

Wednesday, 6 November

11:00

Decarbonisation Conference Decarbonisation Theatre 11:00 - 12:00

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The role of carbon markets in accelerating decarbonisation

Carbon markets have a pivotal role in accelerating the energy transition, supporting large-scale climate goals, and aiding countries and businesses in achieving their net-zero emissions targets. While carbon markets hold immense promise, challenges such as fragmentation and the lack of standardised crediting mechanisms can undermine both the credibility and effectiveness of carbon markets. Establishing clear guidelines on the accepted uses of carbon credits, along with improved standards and infrastructure for their development and sale, can make carbon markets a more effective tool for driving the rapid emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C. However, they should be seen as a complement to, not a substitute for, strong climate policies and corporate action to decarbonise operations

Attendee insights:

Understand the significant role carbon markets play in reducing emissions as well as the barriers to increasing their uptake and delivering improved decarbonisation results.