The World Youth Forum (WYF) continues to impress the world with the participation of young people from 196 countries in Sharm El-Sheikh under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. The forum is held under the slogan ‘Back Together’.
In an interview with The Egyptian Gazette, British Ambassador to Cairo Gareth Bayley expressed his appreciation for this “unique” conference.
“There are not many conferences like that. Honestly speaking, this forum is unique. I want to thank Egypt for being brave to bring youth together especially with amazing Covid-19 protocol and precautionary measures,” Bayley said.
The ambassador went on to say that the timing is important in light of global challenges like Covid-19 and climate change.
“The main themes of WYF are development, peace, creativity – creativity is number one because if youth does not have creativity, who has?” he said.
Climate change, which tops the forum agenda, is the number one crisis that the world faces, the ambassador added.
“Climate change is a perfect problem to be solved collectively by people together. It is at the heart of young people’s concerns. I am personally delighted as we hosted the climate summit in Glasgow and Egypt is to host COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh here again. I cannot imagine a more important topic like this. Everybody is talking about climate change and how we adapt as the world is changing,” he said.
As Egypt is to host COP27, the ambassador said that this move reflects that Egypt has perfect self-confidence and self-belief.
“I cannot imagine a better host than Egypt. It is Africa’s COP. We have three big subjects to look at: mitigation, adaptation and finance. The global conference is really moment of opportunity for Egypt to attract green investments. We have here solar power, wind power and hydro. So, this year Egypt should open the shop for investors,” he said.
Regarding climate change finance and the pledge to channel $100 billion a year to less wealthy nations by 2020, the ambassador said: “We learned a lot in Glasgow. A promise is a goal that was not met. People want to see a promise delivered. We managed to renew the contract and we need to touch on it again. The bigger goal is to use this $100 billion to mobilise trillions from the private sector. The private sector is really ready to invest in the green,” he added.
Regarding the role of the embassy in the upcoming COP27, the ambassador said: “We will respond to Egyptian government requests. Our job will start as of next week as we have a very senior government delegation of climate coming to Cairo to hand over the presidency. They will be coming from London to Cairo then Abu Dhabi,” he said.
The WYF is attended by a wide range of participants, including but not limited to, heads of states and government, international young leaders, inspiring youth in various fields, prominent international figures and youth groups from around the world.
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