Sustainable finance in Qatar: green bonds, the central bank’s strategy and what banks offer

In the SME survey published in 2025, 14% of companies named a lack of financial resources as their main barrier to sustainability, and 8% asked for financial support and incentives. Meanwhile, a sustainable finance market is taking shape quickly in Qatar. Here is a short map of it.

The state goes first: sovereign green bonds

In May 2024 the Ministry of Finance issued USD 2.5 billion of green bonds in two tranches: USD 1 billion over five years and USD 1.5 billion over ten. The issue was more than 5.6 times covered, with peak demand above USD 14 billion. The bonds were issued under the Sovereign Green Financing Framework, which adopts the Green Bond Principles of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).

For companies, the issue matters because it set a clear reference for the local market: what counts as green, and how proceeds are managed and reported.

The central bank sets the rules

• November 2023: the Third Financial Sector Strategy, with ESG and sustainability as a theme across its pillars.
• June 2024: the ESG and Sustainability Strategy for the Financial Sector, with three pillars: managing climate, environmental and social risks; mobilising capital towards sustainable finance; and embedding sustainability in QCB’s own operations.
• April 2025: the Sustainable Finance Framework, built on transparency, management of proceeds, reporting and external review, and covering sustainable Islamic instruments.
• December 2025: an ISSB-aligned Sustainability Reporting Framework for banks and insurers, applying from 1 January 2026.

Earlier, in March 2022, the Qatar Financial Centre issued its Sustainable Sukuk and Bonds Framework, the first in the GCC, based on ICMA’s principles.

What banks offer

Several Qatari banks have set up sustainable finance frameworks, including QNB in 2023 and Commercial Bank in the same year. In September 2025 QNB issued a five-year EUR 750 million green bond. On the deposit side, Masraf Al Rayan launched Qatar’s first Sharia-compliant green deposit in 2022, and QIB launched a sustainable deposit for corporate clients in 2024.

Notably, much of this is Sharia-compliant: green sukuk, green and sustainable deposits, and a central bank framework that explicitly covers Islamic instruments. A company that prefers Islamic finance no longer has to choose between its principles and its environmental goals.

In February 2026 the Qatar Stock Exchange listed the first green sukuk in the Qatari market, issued by AlRayan Bank: QR 500 million over three years, on the debt instruments market.

And for SMEs

In January 2023 Qatar Development Bank launched its Clean Energy and Eco-Friendly Financing programme for SMEs in the sectors QDB serves. As announced at the time, it covers up to 85% of the cost of green upgrade projects, repayable over up to 15 years including a three-year grace period. Terms can change, so check them with the bank directly.

How to prepare a green financing request

• A specific project: a cooling upgrade, solar panels or a recycling line, not a general phrase about going green.
• A baseline: energy, water or waste use before the project, from bills and records.
• An expected impact: how many kilowatt-hours or tonnes of emissions it will cut each year, and how that was calculated.
• A monitoring plan: how you will measure the impact after delivery and report it to the lender.

These four elements map closely onto what sustainable finance frameworks ask for: a clear use of funds, management of proceeds and impact reporting.

What this means for your company

Green finance is not granted on good intentions. Every framework above shares one thing: a defined use of funds, measured impact and disclosure. The company that already measures its energy use and emissions, and has a specific project to reduce them, is the closest to this money.

Remember that more than a third of companies in the 2025 survey, 38%, named no form of support they needed. Knowing what is on offer is a simple first step: ask your bank for its list of green products and their terms, and match them to a specific project. The money may be closer than you think.

With banks reporting under ISSB from 2026, lenders asking about a client’s environmental performance will become a normal part of the relationship. Start preparing your file now, and take part in the national survey so your company’s financing needs are heard at the conference on 25 March 2027.