CAIRO – 19 May 2022: Within the framework of Egypt's efforts to achieve green transformation, the country's National Climate Change Strategy 2050 that will be announced on Thursday afternoon embraces a number of programs in energy, transport, petroleum and agricultural sectors, which will be implemented in cooperation with the private sector, said Egyptian Yasmine Fouad on Thursday.
In a meeting with Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Ambroise Fayolle, Fouad discussed the national strategy for climate change, which included a number of projects such as a 10-billion-dollar project that aims at producing 10 gigawatts of renewable energy through transferring thermal power plants to renewable energy-operated ones.
The minister added that the private sector will participate in other green projects in the agricultural field, including establishing early warning systems for agricultural crops, and devising new agricultural crops and the best practices in this field, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Environment on Thursday.
The National Climate Change Strategy 2050 is a comprehensive long-term strategy that reflects Egypt’s vision in the climate file and national goals in terms of mitigation, adaptation, financing, climate governance, technology and scientific research, taking into consideration the dimensions of sustainable development, social aspects, and the impacts of climate change.
Minister Fouad also stated that Egypt is almost done with updating its plan of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), per which CO2 emissions should be cut. The NDC is a climate action plan that should be taken by all parties to the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change. According to the NDC, each party shall update its own plan every 5 years.
What is the top priorities on COP 27 agenda?
The meeting tackled Egypt’s presidency of the upcoming COP27 climate conference due to convene in November in Sharm El -Sheikh city.
Fouad said that the conference aims at adopting executive procedures regarding climate change, especially when it comes to financing green projects in the developing countries after the developed countries pledged doubling the financing during the Glasgow Conference (COP 26).
“Helping the developing countries access financing is a guarantee of effective benefit amid the obstacles faced in taking measures and building the required national capacities,” said Fouad.
The minister added that tlhe COP 27 will be a platform to present success stories and executive projects in climate change impacts mitigation, in light of the urgent need to start implementing measures against the climate change-related phenomena that the world is witnessing.
“We are keen during the conference to present success stories at various levels, starting with local communities exposed to climate change impacts, like farmers, fishermen, and women in different regions of the world, and to present the possible ways to address these impacts,” Fouad said.
The conference will present huge investment programs, undertaken in participation of the private sector and various financing institutions, concerned with mitigation measures, such as the project aiming to keep the world temperature under 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Minister said.
Fouad also shed light on the COP27 topics that Egypt will address, including finance, food security, energy, transition to renewable energy, biodiversity, and nature-based solutions, besides the launch of the roadmap for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) next September, along with water initiatives based on sustainable quality of life.
The vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) affirmed the bank’s support for Egypt’s efforts in the climate file at the national, regional and international levels, as well as its presidency of the upcoming COP27 climate conference to achieve progress in the areas of climate, the ministry’s statement said.
Reducing use of single-use plastic bags
Th two sides discussed possible cooperation in reducing plastic waste in light of the European Clean Ocean Initiative, and Egypt's efforts to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags, as the Minister of Environment indicated that the new waste law recently issued by Egypt aims at reducing the use single-use plastic bags. This is in addition to the national initiatives to declare a number of Egyptian cities free of plastic, such as Sharm El Sheikh, the Red Sea and Alexandria. She also said that Egypt is carrying out projects to replace single-use plastic bags in partnership with the private sector.
It has been agreed at the meeting to continue cooperation in presenting successful projects based on the human dimension and added value during the upcoming COP27 climate conference.
Egypt will launch Thursday the National Strategy for Climate Change 2050 in an event that will be attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and a large number of ministers.
The government had already prepared a bundle of projects designed to accomplish coexistence and mitigation of the socio-economic impact of climate change. Those include the new and renewable energy programme, consisting of green hydrogen among other sources of power and creating investment opportunities for the private sector.
The Ministry of Environment had announced in April 17 aspects of the strategy, which come as follows:
The 17 aspects are:
Improving the efficiency of thermal power stations, transmission networks, oil and gas activities, devices, electrical equipment, and means of transportation.
Improving the efficiency of industrial processes across all sectors.
Reinforcing orientation towards sustainable consumption and production to cut emissions from activities non-pertaining to the energy sector.
Reducing emissions from animal production activities and recycling of agricultural waste.
Safe disposition of solid waste, and garnering the gas emitted from such landfills.
Encouraging the policies that support the reduction of waste from the source.
Reducing the losses and damages that can happen to the state assets and the ecological system due to climate change.
Combating the loss of biological diversity, climate change, and deterioration of lands and ecological systems.
Preserving protectorates, endemic species, and historical and cultural patrimony.
Establishing developmental communities away from hot areas that are most vulnerable to climate change, and selecting the locations through mathematical modeling.
Creating infrastructure and services that are resilient in the face of climate change, protecting lowlands in coastal zones, setting an integrated management of coastal areas, and implementing flood control systems.
Reinforcing wastewater systems in urban areas, and developing rainwater harvesting systems.
Empowering women to coexist with the impact of climate change by mapping their needs and priorities, and providing them with the necessary modern technology, and flexible funding.
Accomplishing gender equality by tailoring training and funding programs that take into consideration the nature of each gender.
Designating the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders to achieve strategic goals.
Reforming sectoral policies relevant to introducing changes required to alleviate the impact of climate change and coexistence with it.
Enhancing Egypt's rank on the Climate Change Performance Index to attract more investments and acquire more climate funding.
Additional reporting by Noha El Tawil
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