Egypt's FM receives Executive Vice-president of European Union Commission

CAIRO – 10 April 2022: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry, president-designate of COP 27, received Sunday Executive Vice-president of the European Union Commission for the Green Deal Frans Timmermans, within a series of meetings with parties involved in climate change work, as part of Egypt's preparations for the summit it is hosting in Sharm El Sheikh next November.

In an article published by Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS) on Thursday, Minister Shoukry said Egypt will employ its regional and international weight as well as its diplomatic capabilities to encourage countries to reach tangible outcome that could contribute to reducing carbon emissions, adapting to climate change effects, and providing the necessary funding for developing countries.

Shoukry added that Egypt would spare no effort to encourage all countries to take concrete and practical action to address climate change.

The top Egyptian diplomat explained that the climate change's issue tops the world's challenges after scientific evidence showed that human activity since the industrial revolution has been and is still causing severe damage to all countries and societies.

Shoukry stressed the need for urgent action by all countries to cut carbon emissions caused by this growing industrial activity.

He indicated that Egypt's presidency of the COP27 comes at a time when the world economy is still recovering from the coronavirus' repercussions, along with the current geopolitical tensions that badly affect world economies.

Shoukry underlined that those developments require concerted efforts by all countries to render the UN Climate Change Conference a success and achieve the desired goal in decreasing emissions and halting rising temperatures.

Hosting COP27

In March, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi followed up on preparations for COP27 set to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh city in November.

During a meeting with the ministerial group in charge of preparing for the conference and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, Sisi ordered providing all financial resources to gear up for the summit in November.

Sisi urged all relevant bodies to step up for organizing the event in a way that reflects Egypt's regional and international significance and the country’s efforts to achieve green transition, protect environment and increase the use of clean energy.

The ministerial committee reviewed the most important axes of the upcoming climate summit and the desired results, as well as the ongoing coordination in this context with the British presidency of COP26.

The committee also reviewed the Egyptian vision related to the substantive aspects of the summit, represented in moving the summit’s work from commitments to the implementation stage and advancing national and African concerns on climate change issues.