Egypt, UNFCC sign Host Country Agreement for COP27

CAIRO – 9 June 2022: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 President-Designate, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa Cantellano signed on Wednesday the Host Country Agreement for COP27 to be held in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November 2022, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Shoukry met the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) during his presence in Bonn, Germany, in conjunction with the 56th session of the meetings of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies.

In light of Egypt's hosting of COP27 in November, Minister Shoukry referred during the meeting to Egypt’s keenness to put the African climate change concerns at the forefront of the topics the session will address, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Ambassador Ahmed Hafez, in a statement on Wednesday.

 Shoukry said that the African continent is the most affected party by the negative repercussions of climate change, despite it being the least contributor to emissions, noting in the same regard the difficulties the African countries still face in obtaining the climate finance needed to address these repercussions.

Hafez added that the foreign minister also reviewed the Egyptian presidency's vision for COP27, pointing to the country's keenness to achieve consensus among the various international climate action stakeholders, especially with regard to the issues of adapting to climate change, mitigating its negative repercussions, addressing losses and damages, and providing climate finance.

Minister Shoukry emphasized that the upcoming Egyptian presidency of the COP attaches great importance to the issue of implementing climate pledges and transforming them into a concrete reality, whether in terms of meeting the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) or implementing the commitments and pledges made by the various parties involved in climate action.

On the sidelines of the Bonn meeting, Shoukry met with members of the Group of 77 (G77) and China, of which Egypt is also a member, to highlight the vital role the group plays in advancing the interests and concerns of developing countries in the climate change negotiations, said Hafez in another statement on Wednesday.