The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), chaired by Mohamed Farid, has completed measuring its carbon footprint for 2024 for the first time, issuing a dedicated report as part of its annual sustainability report. This milestone makes FRA the first Egyptian regulatory body to assess its own carbon footprint, reaffirming its commitment to environmental sustainability. The Authority also plans to fully offset its emissions by purchasing voluntary carbon certificates traded on the Egyptian voluntary carbon market. This step aligns with FRA's broader efforts to transition towards a low-emission economy, enhance resource efficiency, adopt global best practices, and mitigate the environmental impact of its operations. Farid described the initiative as both a practical commitment and a pivotal step towards building a more sustainable future. He emphasised that regulators must lead by example in adopting responsible environmental practices and set a benchmark for the institutions they supervise. He added that offsetting emissions through the Egyptian voluntary carbon market demonstrates FRA's support for this emerging platform, underscoring a national responsibility towards the environment and society while contributing to Egypt's ambitious climate targets. The carbon footprint assessment was conducted by a national entity registered in FRA's verification and validation roster for emissions monitoring. This reflects FRA's determination to strengthen local institutional capacity and enable domestic firms to perform measurement and verification processes according to global standards, supporting both the national economy and Egypt's leadership in sustainability services. Since its launch in August 2024, the Egyptian voluntary carbon market — the first to be organised and supervised by capital market regulators in Egypt and Africa — has registered around 34 projects from Egypt, Oman, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. To date, it has helped offset more than 170,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. Globally, carbon markets are expected to generate up to $250bn by 2030 by lowering the costs of implementing national climate commitments. According to the World Bank, revenues from carbon pricing mechanisms reached a record $104bn in 2023, underscoring the rapid growth of market-based approaches to tackling climate change. FRA reiterated its commitment to fostering a more sustainable business environment and urged supervised entities to adopt similar practices. The Authority said such efforts will help build a resilient, low-carbon national economy capable of delivering sustainable development for future generations.
