Egypt, Netherlands talk boosting environmental cooperation ahead of COP27

CAIRO -  4 June 2022: Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad met Friday with her Dutch counterpart Vivianne Heijnen to discuss mechanisms of joint cooperation in the issues of climate and biodiversity, on the sidelines of the Stockholm +50 Conference.

At Stockholm +50 Conference, which is organized by the United Nations General Assembly in Sweden, the two sides mulled integration of environmental work with the energy and water sectors.

“Egypt is shifting towards a green economy through adopting many measures; including the amendment of policies, regulations and laws, as well as the inclusion of the environmental sustainability standards in the State budget,” Fouad said.

She further added that an ambitious target was set for 50 percent of the country's projects to be green by 2024 and 100 percent by 2030.

The Egyptian Environment Minister also said that Egypt hopes the COP27 will achieve the aspirations of nations in addressing the effects of climate change and working to implement the decisions of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26).

Dr. Yasmine Fouad, in her capacity as the ministerial coordinator and envoy of the upcoming COP27 climate conference, stressed that the conference is for implementation, and is keen to achieve great progress in all negotiating tracks to expedite the process of updating the specific national contributions of countries, which Egypt has currently completed and will be announced soon, especially after the announcement of the National Climate Change Strategy 2050 last month.

Green bonds have also been launched, which focus on projects to address the effects of climate change, such as transportation and sanitation projects, explaining the work to provide profitable projects in this regard, such as new energy projects.

Fouad reviewed the Egyptian vision in the transition towards new and renewable energy, linking it to the issues of water desalination and activating the participation of the private sector in environmental projects, especially the energy field. There are also projects to shift towards cars powered by natural gas

For her part, the Dutch Minister of Environment affirmed her country's aspiration to provide the necessary support to Egypt in its presidency of the upcoming COP27 climate conference, and joint coordination to open the space for discussions and exchange views, especially on the water conference to be held next year to search for the best ways to stimulate environmental action globally.