Egypt’s agriculture min. elected as head of general assembly of Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones, Dry Lands

CAIRO – 23 June 2022: Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture El-Sayed El-Quseir has been elected as head of the general assembly of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) for two years.

Egypt hosted the meeting of the general assembly of ACSAD, which was held via video conference, a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture read on Wednesday.

In a speech he delivered at the meeting, Quseir called for concerted efforts to activate the Green Middle East Initiative launched by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for its role in expanding the green areas.

Quseir explained that activating the initiative would play a role in reducing carbon emissions and temperatures and curb climate change impacts.

 

As Egypt is scheduled to host the 2022 Climate Change Conference of the United Nations (COP27) in November, Quseir said Egypt looks forward to build on the outcomes of the Glasgow summit (COP26) to translate pledges into actions on the ground.

He added that Egypt will cooperate with partners to ensure that responsible outcomes for the conference that takes into consideration the interests of the countries affected by climate change and their ability to face these changes.

“In this regard, we seek for your participation and contribution in the conference, which will be no doubt effective and tangible,” Quseir said.

Earlier this month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president-designate, and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa Cantellano signed the Host Country Agreement for COP27 to be held in Sharm el Sheikh from 6 to 18 November 2022.

During his presence in Bonn, Germany, in conjunction with the 56th session of the meetings of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies, Shoukry referred to Egypt’s keenness to put the African climate change concerns at the forefront of the topics the session will address.

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.

Egypt is also keen 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, Shoukry said.

He emphasized that that 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.