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Welcome to Xchange by Money20/20 Middle East – where money meets ideas 

Bold thought

Climate finance in MENA is entering its operational era – and fintech is doing the heavy lifting. 

Snapshot

This year marks an inflection point for climate finance in the Middle East.

ISSB standards are no longer theoretical, with several regional markets moving towards expected application from 2026. At the same time, regulators in the UAE are sharpening expectations around governance, disclosures and climate transition planning. 

There’s a consistent message behind it all: climate risk needs to show up inside decision-making, not just reporting.

And means the workload has changed. More data, more structure, more scrutiny. Plus far less tolerance for manual processes held together by spreadsheets and goodwill.

This creates friction, of course. But it also creates opportunity – and at Money20/20 Middle East, we can’t wait to get to know the fintechs that rise to the challenge. 

Voices

Emmanuel Faber (Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board):

“There is a momentum, and it's significantly higher than we expected.” (Source: reporting on global ISSB adoption from Reuters)

Sue Lloyd (Vice-Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board):

“A global baseline of sustainability information to meet the needs of capital markets.” (Source: this interview with The Accountant)

What to watch and do

• Watch: As ISSB-aligned reporting expectations firm up, expect a shift towards operationalising climate fintech.
• Watch: How the most valuable climate fintechs in the region start to look like workflow, data and risk platforms (not sustainability brands).
• Do: If you’re building in this space, pressure-test your product against real financial use cases: underwriting, monitoring, stress testing, audit.

Further reading…

• Two years in: adoption of the ISSB Standards – KPMG, 2025
• The fourth statement from the UAE Sustainable Finance Working Group – Dubai Financial Services Authority, 2025
• Financial Sector Development Program Annual Report 2024 – SAMA, 2024 

We want your perspective 

If you’re working on the infrastructure behind climate finance, we want you in the room at Money20/20 Middle East 2026.

What are you building – and what’s getting in your way? Open this newsletter on LinkedIn and tell us in the comments. 

Catch you next week,

The Money20/20 Middle East Team