CAIRO – Egypt’s Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli lauded on Friday the Chinese government’s efforts in organizing the second conference of its Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Forum that comes at a very important time when there is an increasing need to strengthen joint cooperation to face the climate change impacts, particularly in Emerging Markets (BEM) and developing economies.
This came in his virtual word at the conference, which is hosted by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) and Yunnan province of China government.
Madbouli stressed the importance of taking into account the sustainability component in various development projects and activities to face climate change.
There is an urgent need to strike a balance between developing infrastructure projects and maintaining environmental balance, the premier added.
It is estimated that the establishment of infrastructure projects worldwide using nature-based solutions and taking into account environmental dimensions will require financing worth between 1.2 and 3.8 trillion dollars annually by 2030, however the current levels of government and private investments do not meet these needs, he further noted.
In his speech, Madbouli stressed the importance of finding appropriate mechanisms to finance these investments, explaining that Egypt launched two important initiatives during the COP27 conference to mobilize funds for climate mitigation and adaptation projects in light of the decline in financing capabilities on the global scale.
The first initiative is the “Sharm El Sheikh Guide to Fair Finance,” which sets a framework for the concept and principles of fair finance for climate action and provides guidance on how to invest in climate projects, especially for emerging economies, Madbouli said.
He explained that the second initiative is the launch of the “Nouwfi” program for financing and investing in climate projects in the water, food and energy sectors, as the first list of eco-friendly projects.
The program works to activate the concept of fair financing by identifying nine important projects in the fields of climate adaptation and mitigation in line with Egypt National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) 2050 and its Nationally determined contributions (NDCs), Madbouli said.
Egypt is a key partner in both the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Global Development Initiative” which were proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 and 2021, respectively, he further underlined.
These initiatives play a pivotal role in completing the efforts made to push towards the implementation of the climate and development plans, he said.
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