Egypt’s government reviews preparation for COP 27 Conference

CAIRO – 4 August 2022: A cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli to review the latest preparations conducted so far by the government for hosting the 27th session of the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh city in November 2022, said the Cabinet in a statement on Thursday.

Held at the government headquarters in the New El-Alamein city, the meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad, General Coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the COP 27 Ambassador Ashraf Ibrahim, Head of the Environmental Affairs Agency Ali Abu Sunna, and Deputy Director of the Sustainable Environment Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ayman Tharwat, the statement said.

The meeting tackled the initiatives that will be presented during the conference, as well as the logistical and organizational procedures for receiving conference guests, accommodation, internal transportation, and programs of the tourist attractions that will be organized for the participants, the statement added.

During the meeting, the ministers and officials reviewed the improvements that were made on the conference website, and the procedures that aim to facilitate the participants’ access to various services related to accommodation and transportation, the statement continued.

The prime minister directed the concerned bodies to coordinate and closely follow up all the preparations in a way that befits the name of Egypt, and reflects Egypt's dedication to its leading role in the climate action file, the statement added.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry launched on Wednesday the official social media accounts for the COP27.

In a recorded speech at a roundtable on climate initiatives in Africa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, who is COP 27 president-designate, asserted the salience of securing the necessary funding to achieve mitigation and adaptation.

On Tuesday, Shoukry received a phone call from US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry to discuss coordination on climate change issues. They probed means to cement current cooperation and coordination between Egypt and the US on the climate change file, and discussed the results of a meeting they held in July in Berlin and the results of the recent visit of the green economy trade mission to Cairo in May.

Kerry praised ongoing cooperation between Egypt and the US to solve climate change-related issues, Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Ahmed Hafez said. Kerry also voiced Washington's keenness to partake effectively in COP27, to be hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh in November.