• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Riham ElGizy

Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company, Saudi Arabia

Chief Executive Officer

Riham has over 20 years of international experience dedicated to impact related investments through her extensive work as a leader in mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategy and business development experience. She was formerly head of Saudi Aramco’s Investment valuations and structuring, the function responsible for advising and formulating investment decisions for corporate and executive management, as well as government institutions. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, she spent 16 years with BP in North America and North Africa. Riham has a track record in originating and executing energy, clean technology, and renewable energy transactions across the globe. She has advised strategy and investment boards and led negotiations with governments and privately held institutions. Riham is a Sloan fellow MBA (MIT Sloan School of Management) and during her time in MIT, worked on projects promoting sustainable economic growth in emerging markets through the deployment of innovative technology solutions and climate change simulations. She is currently director of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), launching the first voluntary carbon market in the region and leading the single-largest carbon credit auction to ever take place.

Sessions With Riham ElGizy

Monday, 18 March

  • 07:30pm - 09:00pm (CST) / 19/mar/2024 12:30 am - 19/mar/2024 02:00 am

    How Will Carbon Markets Evolve?
    Carbon Management/Decarbonization

    COP28 failed to deliver the expected progress on Article 6, which is meant to support the development of global carbon markets. Consequently, the voluntary carbon market is regrouping around the question of quality, which has been impacting issuances, retirements and price trends. Will the sector be able to regain momentum? Simultaneously, national carbon compliance programs are being developed in key countries of the Global South, even as more established carbon markets are being strengthened and projected across borders. Will these different trends and markets converge? Can COP29 deliver progress for carbon markets?  

Tuesday, 19 March

  • 03:30pm - 04:00pm (CST) / 19/mar/2024 08:30 pm - 19/mar/2024 09:00 pm

    VCM Evolution: Overcoming challenges and upholding integrity
    Climate & Sustainability

    Voluntary carbon markets (VCM) will play a critical role in the path to net zero. However, challenges with transparency and integrity represent a major hurdle toward strong and functioning global voluntary carbon markets. Participants were looking to COP28 to provide guidance that would alleviate these lingering issues, but no progress was made at COP. What policy prescriptions and strategies would improve confidence and participation and make for stronger functioning carbon markets?

Wednesday, 20 March

  • 08:30am - 09:10am (CST) / 20/mar/2024 01:30 pm - 20/mar/2024 02:10 pm

    Voices of Innovation: Riham ElGizy

    Join us in a conversation with a trailblazing leader of carbon markets, in a conversation that straddles Riham ElGizy’s personal story and how that influences the “mission mode” impact she is creating for positive climate action, improving livelihoods and being a voice of the Global South. Riham has recently been named as one of the top 100 influencers in Africa (https://100.newafricanmagazine.com/) and has a story to share about building bridges with the Global North as part of the COP process and beyond in the implementation of voluntary carbon markets. Riham champions inclusion by action and does not see limits based on identities. This will be a conversation that explores many aspects of leadership and innovation, while creating impact on a mission mode.