ABJ, in partnership with the Green Activities in Companies Project (GAIN), funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation and the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, held a specialized Training of Trainers workshop in the field of green in the period extending from 28-30 November 2022.

The program aims to provide the necessary training in the field of green finance for the ABJ Green Finance Committee members which includes a group of banking experts in member banks aiming at refining the participants’ experiences and develop their abilities to become trainers in the relative field.

Dr. Maher Al-Mahrouq, ABJ Director General, inaugurated the training program by expressing his thanks to the partner agencies for their cooperation in holding the workshop which raises awareness regarding green finance concept and strengthens the capabilities of the banking sector in bridging the gap between supply and demand in such field. He also added that green finance tools will contribute to achieving national and global goals of sustainable development,

reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the environment in addition to helping companies and projects to transform into green sectors to preserve the environment.

Dr. Al-Mahrouq touched upon the key developments in the field of green finance, the role of the banking sector in providing sustainable finance in addition to the Central Bank’s role which is working on launching a green finance specialized strategy to serve as a green finance regulation tool in the Jordanian market. On the other hand, he addressed the importance of including the environmental component and the risks of climate change in the risk calculation mechanisms for the banking sector given that climate change is considered one of the factors causing risks for companies and economic activities.

The 3-days program discussed a set of green finance topics such as environmental concepts and their classification, ways to identify opportunities for green and sustainable finance within the economic sectors in addition to identifying the participants to differences between green technologies and traditional ones such as environmentally friendly cooling systems, renewable energy, modern water pumping systems, lighting systems and other echo-friendly technologies that do not emit greenhouse gases.

The workshop also tackled the appropriate training methods to raise awareness regarding green finance programs among the various categories of workers in the banking sector up to the level of banking leaders. The program presented a set of training models that target each category separately in addition to the training model for preparing action plans and green finance strategies for the banking sector.

It is noteworthy that the program was designed by the Frankfurt School of Finance and Financial Management, which is one of the most important international institutions with expertise and competencies in the field. The program was presented by the green finance international expert Mrs. Shaheen Tajani with her extended experience especially in leading organizations to shift to green finance.

At the end of the program, Mrs. Elisaveta Kostova, GAIM Director, spoke of raising awareness of the shift to green programs and the importance of focusing on holding sustainable activities contributing to the Kingdom’s transformation to green programs in various economic sectors, most notably the Industrial one. She also noted that raising awareness for all is the first right step in the shift process pinpointing the importance of the banking sector’s participation in such a shift. She expressed her thanks to ABJ and the banking sector for the existing cooperation and spoke about a number of Projects and activities that will be worked on with the association during the coming period.

The participants indicated in the closing session that the program contributed to refining their training skills, and provided them with a set of specialized training tools that fit the needs of bank workers. They also said that the workshop had provided a qualitative and distinctive addition in the field of green finance, which would contribute to enhancing their expertise and efficiency in dealing with green finance during their daily work in their positions within the banks.

Dr. Al-Mahrouq also expressed his sincere thanks to the trainees participating in the program for their attendance and sharing their experiences and knowledge in the field of green finance repeating his thanks to the partners in holding the program, namely, the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management for designing the program and organizing the workshop, and the (GAIN) project represented by the Project Manager Elisaveta Kostova and all the staff and organizers for their efforts to make the training program a success and achieve its objectives.