All the eyes of the world are now open wide on Egypt as it is taking centre stage on climate action by hosting the United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) from 7 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, being the first African country to host this event. Gearing up for the event, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry recently paid an important visit to Egypt, during which he met the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri. This is the second visit by the US official to Cairo since he assumed his current post.
This visit resulted in the launch of the US-Egypt Climate Working Group. According to Foreign Minister Shoukri, an agreement was reached to form that group during the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue held in November last year.
The Egyptian Gazette was invited to cover an address by the US SPEC Kerry following the launch of the joint working group in the American University in Cairo.
At the outset of the event, the US Ambassador to Cairo Jonathan Cohen said that this year the US and Egypt celebrate the 100th anniversary of bilateral relationship.
Kerry said that the world is appropriately focused and following the situation in Ukraine, where critical values and countless lives are at stake. “Today, I am here to talk about another threat to the planet: our changing climate. On behalf of President Biden, I bring you all the goodwill of the United States, and a greeting of peace in the midst of an ongoing pandemic and uncertainty.”
Kerry said that this visit came eight months before COP27, stressing that these months are filled with “promise” and “challenge”.
“It is imperative we – all of us – do everything in our power to give life to the many commitments of COP26 in Glasgow. We must make these months count for the climate fight with all the passion and energy we can summon,” he stressed.
At the beginning of his speech, Kerry referred to the role of youth who are leading the way.
“I’m especially glad we are joined by students in the Tomorrow Leader’s programme and young climate leaders of the Ambassador’s Youth Council.”
In statements to The Gazette on the sidelines of the event, Kerry hailed the capacities of Egyptian youth. “You are doing great job. Just keep fighting,” he said.
Kerry also stressed the paramount importance of acting now to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
“You are preparing to host delegates and stakeholders from around the world for what is, with no exaggeration, a continuation of one of the most important conversations in the history of human beings,” he said.
Kerry added that having COP27 in Egypt is very significant as Egypt is known as the ‘Mother of the World’.
Egypt can help us all take the next critical steps to save civilisation, Kerry added.
Despite the numerous challenges including finding consensus, Kerry expressed his optimism to build on COP26 in Glasgow.
“Almost 200 nations came together and took unprecedented steps in the cause of the climate battle. They resolved to pursue efforts to limit the earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – and agreed that would require reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 45 per cent by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050,” he said.
As for the private sector, Kerry pointed out that Glasgow produced unprecedented private sector commitments to action.
“We did come out of Glasgow with momentum. Momentum if countries put commitments into action.” According to Kerry, momentum is obviously not a guarantee. It is the gift of opportunity.
Kerry went on to say that the job on the road from Glasgow to Sharm el-Sheikh is to turn pledges into proof of concept, and it’s to hold everyone accountable.
“We are running out of time to avoid irreversible impacts,” he warned.
Delving deep into the severe impacts of climate change in the US, Kerry said that last year’s extreme weather took almost 700 lives and cost more than $145 billion in damage.
Kerry highlighted the impact of climate change on rising rates of migration, which impacts global security.
“Climate is already a major driver of migration and displacement, with 30 million people internally displaced in 2020 alone and growing in numbers,” he added.
He stressed that it is human activity causing this, and only human activity can change course.
Kerry also called for delivering on existing commitments, strengthening commitments that are not strong enough, and creating new commitments and efforts where none exist. This is what he called the “Implementation Plus” principle, he said.
“But while we consider the long-term, we must also sprint to do what we can today and tomorrow to limit temperature and emissions now, in this decade,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Kerry referred to the transition in a way that leaves no one behind.
“A challenge that threatens everyone in the world can be solved in ways that will benefit everyone,” he said.
The US stands ready to work with all Parties and the Egyptian COP Presidency to ensure that the Glasgow Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation will accelerate effective action.
Regarding developed countries’ commitment to jointly mobilise $100 billion annually, Kerry said that these countries must make every effort to fulfill this collective goal to help developing countries reduce emissions and confront the impacts of climate change.
“Our climate and our atmosphere do not distinguish between emissions from one country or one continent – every ounce of pollution counts the same.”
EU Ambassador: COP27 to bring whole agenda back to Africa
Speaking to The Gazette, the head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt Christian Berger said that the EU is working very closely with Egypt to prepare for COP27.
“The one who leads the EU team at COP27, namely the Vice President of the European Commission on climate change issues, Frans Timmermans, talked with Foreign Sameh Shoukri and he is planning to come to Cairo to take the discussion forward,” he said.
The EU ambassador said that environment was one of the main topics discussed in the 6th European Union-African Union Summit in Brussels on 17 and 18 February 2022.
“The meeting in Brussels was important to bring together European and African countries. The main idea was to strengthen relationship between Europe and Africa. Several topics were chosen, namely peace, stability energy but also environment,” he said.
So, it is co-operation between European Union and African countries specially Egypt that plays very important role and hosts COP27.
“Discussing these topics was important and we will see how it will be taken forward as Egypt will chair COP27,” he said.
Berger said that Egypt by hosting COP27, it brings the whole agenda back to Africa which is very important.
“Egypt is the driving force and has its own strong positions on how to improve climate and how to fight climate change. Egypt does a lot of very concrete work on the ground like developing renewable energy like solar power and renewable hydrogen.”
Egypt is also an example for other countries. So we want to work very closer with Egypt to prepare for the COP27, he said.
British envoy: Egypt to lead the world against climate change
As the UK hosted COP26, British Ambassador to Cairo Gareth Bayley stressed the paramount importance of building on the outcomes of Glasgow summit.
“Mr Kerry’s visit came at a critical time as Egypt will lead the world in November against climate change. We are so happy that he is here,” he told The Gazette.
The ambassador went on to say that the US and the UK are both partners to Egypt, adding that climate change is a perfect problem to be solved collectively by people.
The British envoy explained that there two main challenges facing Africa in climate change domain, namely adaptation and mitigation.
“It is a big challenge how Africa adapts to the effects of climate change. As for mitigation, it is about how we stop climate and slow down the rise in temperature,” he said.
It is worth mentioning that in January this year, COP26 President Alok Sharma met Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri. Both sides emphasised their joint commitment to accelerate the fight against climate change.
“The UK will give its full support to Egypt in delivering ambitious outcomes at COP27, including ensuring that it delivers for those most vulnerable to climate change. We emphasise the urgency of action required to address the gaps in ambition across mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and finance, and the importance of responding to the best available science in this respect,” a joint statement read following the visit.
