Climate action is one of the sustainable development goals and its implementation is therefore considered an investment to that end.
This statement by Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, who is the UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda came during the 21st Arab Administrative Development Organisation (ARADO) conference in Oman.
This year’s theme is ‘Sustainability of resources in light of climate change and ways to reduce its effects’.
Climate change affects growth, financial stability and economic development, and the improper transition to decarbonisation has its negative impacts, Mohieldin said.
International finance organisations agree that climate issues have become significant for the global economy, while the IMF worked on merging climate action into its main field of work in terms of supervision, finance, research and capacity building, Mohieldin added.
“The attainment of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) requires accurate, up-to-date data, suitable finance for which different sources of funding are integrated, and implementation efficiency at institutional and policy levels.” Mohieldin said.
The climate champion said last month’s COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh yielded many results in all fields of climate action for loss and damage. The conference recognised for the first time the need to commit to the provision of climate finance through the establishment of the Losses and Damages Fund to help developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change and the resulting natural and human losses and damages, he said.
In the field of adaptation, Mohieldin explained that the COP27 conference discussed issues of food, water and energy security and referred to them in the context of decisions after official negotiations in light of current global challenges.
Participants also agreed on the need to produce healthy, nutritious and sustainable food that is able to withstand environmental changes, he said.
Mohieldin referred in this context to the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, launched by the Egyptian presidency of the event.
The aim of the agenda is to achieve resilience for 4 billion people by 2030 through 30 adaptation outcomes in food and agriculture, water and nature, coasts and oceans, human settlements and infrastructure, while making provision for the required financing and planning.
Mohieldin highlighted the initiative of the Early Warning System announced by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as one of the achievements of COP27 in the field of adaptation with $301 billion in annual investment from 2023 to 2027.
The conference also heard the announcement of the Nairobi Declaration to make $14 billion available to improve adaptation measures in Africa.
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