RIYADH: Top industry leaders from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania will gather in Riyadh next week to discuss emissions trading policy in preparation for the COP28 summit. The Kingdom’s Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Co. will host the Global South Carbon Markets Conference on Oct. 26 during the Future Investment Initiative in association with S&P Global Commodity Insights. Speakers at the conference will discuss the positive impact of carbon trading on climate change, the sovereignty of credits in the global south, and the role of Islamic finance in accelerating green market development. Rania Nashar, chairwoman of RVCMC, said: “Carbon trading is a key tool in helping the world address the devastating effects of climate change. With this event in Riyadh, we are bringing together voices from across the global south to find agreement on what we all want to see happen at COP28.” Launched in October 2022, RCVMC is a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, holding a 80 percent stake, and Tadawul Group, which owns the remaining 20 percent. The company aims to enable emissions offset via carbon credits and aspires to become a global leader in the sector. Nashar added: “We need a unified approach to help take this fast-growing market in carbon credits and see it become an even more crucial factor in supporting the global drive toward a carbon-neutral future.” Riham ElGizy, CEO of RCVMC said that carbon trading is very crucial for the world to mitigate the risks associated with climate change. “Carbon trading can become a very powerful tool to scale and finance the export of voluntary carbon credits from the Global South, to mitigate the impacts of climate change globally while providing the Global South with financial resources to support their development and address the impacts of climate change,” she said. During the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week earlier this month, ElGizy told Arab News that RCVMC is planning to launch a carbon credit exchange platform in the second half of 2024. “My next plan is to launch the exchange, which is going to be a spot market to help price discovery by 2024. We will have as well in that exchange over the counter, we will have a marketplace for suppliers to sell their own product… So three offerings,” ElGizy said.