Annual Report - 2025

The Rihla Initiative for Green Economic Growth was launched to address a central contradiction shaping the global climate transition: while the Global South faces the most acute climate, water, and development pressures, the financial, institutional, and strategic architecture required to translate climate ambition into inclusive economic transformation remains fragmented. At the same time, Gulf states—particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar—have emerged as pivotal actors in climate finance, infrastructure investment, and green industrial strategy, yet lack structured, policy-driven platforms to align their outward investments with host-country development priorities at scale. Rihla was designed to fill this gap by creating a sustained, multi-regional framework that connects Gulf capital, expertise, and political influence with grounded policy analysis, regional needs, and implementation pathways across the Global South.