Egypt’s Minister of Environment and envoy for the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), Yasmeen Fouad, launched via video conference on Wednesday an initiative to accelerate the pace of climate finance and speed up transition to a low carbon economy.
British Ambassador in Cairo Gareth Bayley took part in the launch ceremony, in co-operation with the British Cultural Centre in Cairo.
The move came on the sidelines of the COP27’s preparatory meeting (PRECOP27), hosted by the Congolese capital, Kinshasa on October 3-4.
Climate representatives from more than 40 countries gathered in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, to discuss a common position ahead of the COP27 meeting scheduled for November in Egypt.
Fouad stressed that the initiative helps reduce the negative effects of climate change on world countries, especially developing African ones.
She hailed strategic and close co-operation ties binding Egypt and the United Kingdom, which manifested during the latter’s presidency of the twenty-sixth climate conference in Glasgow last year.
The British government is working hard with Egypt to make the next COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh a success, the minister of environment said.
Fouad said that Egypt has repeatedly affirmed that it will speak for Africa’s aspirations regarding the climate file during the next climate summit, as the African countries are the most affected with climate change impacts despite being a small contributor to these effects.
The minister said that COP27 would build on the success of COP26 Glasgow summit in a bid to turn climate pledges into implementation and real actions.
She added that efforts are to be doubled during the next few weeks in order to accelerate the pace of climate finance.
She reiterated to the world that Africa bears the brunt of the climate change crisis despite accounting for a tiny fraction of global greenhouse emissions.
Fouad added that 172.3 million Africans were affected by drought and 43 million were affected by floods between 2010 and 2022.
Climate change is expected to push an additional 78 million people to chronic hunger by 2050, more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa, Fouad said in recent remarks.
“It is important for us as the COP27 president to bring back balance between adaptation and mitigation,” she said.
Meanwhile, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and the UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, stressed the need to activate innovative financing methods within the framework of updated strategies and policies such as debt swaps for investment in climate projects.
Moieldin was speaking during his participation in India COP27 Roundtable, held on Wednesday in New Delhi in co-operation with climate champions and Bloomberg Philanthropies,
He referred to the importance of promoting blended finance through public and private sectors, as well as strengthening the role of non-state actors.
The climate champion said that COP27 focuses on shifting from pledges to implementation and practical application and not more promises, referring to Copenhagen’s pledge to provide $100 billion annually to support climate action in developing countries.
This amount represents only 3 per cent of the needs of climate action in those countries.
Mohieldin stressed the need to enhance the participation of the private sector and mobilise investment without adding more debt on the shoulders of developing countries and emerging markets.
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