CONFERENCE CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Climate Change-related disaster has caused the decimation of hundreds of thousands of lives and has left over 43 million displaced children over the last 6 years[1], with severe weather events only expected to get worse. The recent Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed with an agreement to reduce fossil fuel through a fair and equitable transition to cleaner fuel sources, through increased financing. In fact, several strategies and frameworks have been instituted with a focus on achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

However, the shift toward being carbon neutral and then Net Zero requires transitioning strategies, for which a significant amount of funding is required. Transition finance faces challenges, including the lack of private sector financing for decarbonization activities due to unclear definitions, limited disclosure, the absence of incentivising financial instruments, and a dearth of demonstration projects showing successful decarbonization in high-emitting sectors. This area of finance requires significant research to support evidence-based decision making and sustainable businesses. This is no different for Islamic finance solutions that certain market sectors rely on for responsible, Shariah-compliant instruments. In fact, the contribution of Islamic finance to the Net Zero pledge is crucial to the humanitarian plight, as the largest Islamic finance jurisdictions are also some of the largest emitters of GHG.

In addition, international disputes have increased political uncertainty and have led to major conflicts in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Conflict hot spots have flared up in the last year with loss of life and human suffering increasing to levels of genocide, and forced human displacement perpetrated by so-called ‘democratic’ governments supported by global superpowers. In particular, the Gaza genocide has caused the displacement of 1.9 million people according to the Human Rights Watch, and more than 5 million people due to the war in Sudan. The destruction of urban areas, healthcare, trade and financial systems will require significant reconstruction financing for recovery and rehabilitation.

The need for empirically sound research, assessments of existing climate strategies and innovation of new solutions and policy recommendations has become urgent. Also, the need for more intensive Islamic social finance programs to support the displaced and destitute. To this end, the 13th FIFC 2024 will focus on providing evidence-based analysis and practical solutions to address the climate and political crisis through transitioning finance, and Islamic social finance for recovery, reconstruction, rehabilitation and forced human displacement.

The main objective of this conference is to develop and document authentic literature on transition and recovery finance, applying Islamic Finance solutions to address the shortcomings of the conventional financing approaches.

FIFC began with a significant financial grant from the Australian Research Council in 2005 to a research team led by Prof Mohamed Ariff at Monash University, Australia to generate original research and add new authentic literature to the then emerging discipline of Islamic Finance. The first three meetings were held in Melbourne, Australia, after which subsequent meetings were hosted internationally in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Durham University, and Lancaster University in the U.K. as well as UUM, INCEIF & Sunway University in Malaysia. This series of conferences with different Islamic Finance themes has led to the publication of eight peer-reviewed books (see page 4 for examples) on Islamic banking, sukuk, financial institutions, wealth management, economics & banking risk published by reputed publishers including Edward Elgar and John Wiley. Best papers identified were published after each meeting in reputable journals thereby achieving the FIFC founding objective of contributing authentic and sound literature to the broader body of Islamic finance knowledge. For the 13th conference in 2024, the theme is Addressing Political Uncertainties: The Role of Transition & Recovery Financing