Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said the need to leverage the capacity of multilateral development banks to mobilize private investment and provide essential support for implementing climate-related projects.
He called for reducing the cost of green financing for resilient infrastructure investments to help close the climate financing gap.
Speaking at a meeting of finance ministers during the 2025 United Nation Climate Change Conference (COP 30) in Brazil, Kouchouk said Egypt supports expanding guarantees, blended-risk structures and hedging tools to unlock private capital as well as reallocating Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) through multilateral development banks to lower financing costs and extend maturities.
He said that Egypt also supports scaling up debt-for-climate and debt-for-development swaps in developing and emerging economies, stressing that debt and development challenges must be addressed together.
He called for allowing automatic temporary suspension of debt service following major climate shocks.
Kouchouk added that Egypt is making every effort to implement solutions that link climate action with inclusive growth and development while considering social dimensions.
He highlighted Egypt’s commitment to reforming the global financial architecture and improving risk-sharing across multilateral development banks.
He pointed out that Egypt has taken bold steps to integrate climate priorities into its fiscal and economic policies, updating its sustainable sovereign financing framework, issuing the first sovereign green bond in the Middle East and North Africa, launching Africa’s first voluntary carbon market and introducing the “NWFE” platform to align national investment priorities and coordinate efforts of multilateral development banks.
