The Rihla Initiative derives its name from the 14th-century travelogue by Arab explorer Ibn Battuta, The Rihla, which symbolises the historical ties between the Gulf and the Global South.
The initiative maps new pathways for climate transition and economic prosperity. The initiative is founded on the principle that young professionals are uniquely positioned to drive an ambitious climate agenda for the Gulf States and countries in the Global South.
Targeting Green Growth Across the Global South
The Bourse & Bazaar Foundation (B&BF) launched the Rihla Initiative for Green Economic Growth in spring 2025 to advance cooperation on climate transition and sustainable economic development among policy, commercial, and technical leaders from the Gulf and the Global South.
The initiative seeks to position the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states as leaders in green industrial policies, leveraging investment to drive green economic growth in four regions: the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations, the initiative is driven by high-impact partnerships with regional institutions to organize convenings, generate research, and engage policymakers and industry leaders.
World-Class Partners
The Policy Forum will bring together more than 50 participants for two days of meetings. Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future, a leading climate policy research and advocacy center and a member of Qatar Foundation, is the initiative’s partner for the Policy Forum, taking place in Doha in November 2025. The Forum will include regional, sector-specific, and cross-regional sessions, as well as high-profile panels open to the public.
The Rihla Summit in September 2026 will serve as the initiative’s capstone event, engaging policymakers, industry leaders, and both Global South and GCC representatives. The Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA), a world-class Emirati diplomatic institute, is the initiative’s partner for the Rihla Summit in Abu Dhabi. The summit will present key research findings, foster high-level discussions of the GCC’s role in green finance, and solidify commitments to long-term sustainable investment strategies. It will also create opportunities for emerging Gulf professionals and regional experts to influence policy discourse on GCC investments in green economic growth across the Global South.
Public panels are organized in collaboration with renowned institutions in the four regions and the Gulf from September 2025. Each panel features council members from the relevant region and the Gulf Committee, highlighting region-specific challenges and opportunities for GCC investments.
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The Bourse & Bazaar Foundation is a think tank committed to economic development, economic diplomacy, and economic justice in West Asia. Established in October 2020 as a non-profit entity in the United Kingdom, the Foundation began as a digital publisher of the same name in 2015.
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Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future (Earthna) is a non-profit policy research and advocacy center, established by Qatar Foundation (QF) to promote and enable a coordinated approach to environmental, social, and economic sustainability and future prosperity.
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The Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA) is a globally recognised diplomatic centre of excellence in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It delivers accredited academic programmes and high-impact executive training to develop future The Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA) is a globally recognised diplomatic centre of excellence in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It delivers accredited academic programmes and high-impact executive training to develop future diplomats, as well as the government and business leaders of tomorrow. AGDA brings together an intellectual community from the world of diplomacy, academia and research. As a respected and evolving regional think tank, AGDA produces research that advances knowledge and capabilities relevant to the UAE’s foreign policy objectives. The Academy is a producer of leading resources, and publications.
A People-Powered Initiative
The Rihla Initiative establishes a network of around 100 professionals from the Gulf and the Global South through two councils: the Policy Council and the Implementation Council.
The four regional councils and the Gulf Committee each engage in a structured sequence of activities over the initiative’s two-year duration, delivering ten virtual workshops, ten public panels, four simulation exercises, a policy forum, and a high-profile summit.
The initiative will produce a 20+ chapter Policy Framework for Gulf Climate Finance, three major reports, ten issue briefs, and a series of insight articles.
A Platform for Policymaking
The Rihla Initiative serves as a dedicated platform for the Gulf states to collaborate at multiple levels of engagement. The initiative provides a policy framework for the Gulf states to align their green investment strategies, build regional synergies, and establish a unified GCC approach to sustainable economic growth.
Additionally, Rihla acts as a central platform for regional dialogue on green initiatives and Gulf-led climate diplomacy, reinforcing the GCC’s leadership in shaping the future of sustainable finance and economic development in the Global South.