COP27: Africa's event with highest turnout in history of climate conferences responds to logistic criticism

CAIRO – 17 November 2022: Some logistical issues at COP27 received wide coverage in a few British and U.S. newspapers and websites despite their small scale and at the expense of the climate discussions that were held at the huge event.

Important events such as COP27 that witnesses the participation of many international delegations will certainly not be free of requests and complaints, but the decisive factor is to what extent the host country is able to act fast to monitor and receive the requests and the complaints beside applying all the needed solutions rapidly. And this is what Egypt has done since the first day of COP27.

COP27 has had much less logistical problems than COP26; it even has the least logistical problems if we compare it with all the previous climate change Conferences. Previous climate conference did not receive as much of coverage that highlights logistical issues, but that is not unusual when an African country, for once, hosts an event like that demands climate justice and equity.

Below are some of responses to the issues raised in some media outlets:

1 – A central operations room and an emergency working group work around the clock at COP27 to handle requests and complaints and resolve them swiftly.

 

2 – The prices of food and beverages in the Blue Zone were reduced by 50 percent, while they were offered free of charge at the Green Zone.

 

3 – An example of swift response, a water leakage from a sewage pipe in the location of the event was spotted at 6 p.m. on Nov. 9, and in one hour the issue was resolved.

4 – In preparation for COP27, 200 KM of new roads, eight bridges, and 15 squares were built to accommodate the anticipated traffic.

5 – An issue of the clarity of signs and banners were raised. However, there are more than 2,000 young Egyptian volunteers who help participants upon arrival at Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh airports, assist them with route plans and access to services, food, transportation, and toilets in the Blue and Green Zones. They are present at airports, hotels, conference halls, and streets in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Further, people with special abilities and participants in the Climate Summit were given extra attention during their stay upon arrival. Spaces were allocated especially for COP27 participants at the two airports.

6 – Health insurance is provided to participants of the Climate Summit.

 

7 – The COP27 climate summit is the largest in the history of the UN in terms of the number of participants. Not only does it represent Africa for the first time, but the participants have exceeded 40,000. Some 3,000 NGOs participated, and more than 10,000 attendees represented international organizations concerned with climate. More than 130 heads of states have also attended. Some 1,500 events were organized at COP27.

8 - International praises for the Egyptian organization of COP27

 

Egypt’s logistical and strategic preparations for hosting and organizing COP27 garnered international praises from the Presidents of the participating countries, the participating delegations, international organizations, civil society organizations and Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres.

-      American President Joe Biden: He praised efforts exerted from Egypt side to organize COP27 saying: ‘’ Egypt is the Motherland, the most suitable place to host COP27, Egypt plays vital role in terms of facing the global challenges and we have a strong partnership with Egypt.’’

 

- French President Emanuel Macron: He praised Egypt’s success in organizing COP27, hailing its role in achieving stability in Middle East and Africa, pointing out that we must not forget that all world leaders are fighting for the sake of climate Sharm El Sheikh, the city of peace, saying: “Egypt has achieved remarkable success in organizing a massive global event like COP27 and Cairo one of the strongest partners in the region.’’

- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appreciated the distinguished organization of COP27 made by Egypt, hailing the strong ties between Egypt and Britain and the unprecedented strength of Egyptian-British relationship during the past years especially on the side of the economic and commercial relationship, assuring that Egypt is one of the most important partners to Britain in the Middle East because Egypt is an essential pillar of stability and security in the region.

- Senegalese President and current head of African Union Macky Sall saluted President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and all the world leaders who attended COP27, and said in his speech: “On behalf of Africa I would like to thank you all and thank my dear brother Abdel Fattah El Sisi because of the warm welcome and the generosity of the great Egypt and this is not strange to the traditions of Egypt and its marine magic.”

- Armenian president Vahagn Khachaturyan announced that the relationship between his country and Egypt is on its peak currently, pointing out that this is his first visit to Egypt to attend COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, adding that he felt how he was warmly welcomed during his participation in the multiple sessions of COP27, thanking President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for organizing this unique event.

- Lebanese Prime minister Naguib Mekaty praised the organization of COP27 saying: “ Sharm El Sheikh is the main station for holding conferences, I am happy with the complete infrastructure of Sharm El Sheikh and the great organization of COP27 that witnessed the attendance of large number of world leaders.’’

- United States special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry declared that the United States trusts Egypt leadership to COP27, and that US is keen to strengthen the mutual cooperation between the two countries in this field in order to push forward the international efforts to face climate change. Kerry praised the seriousness of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in terms of performing international climate actions and the green transformation which was noticed by the international community. Kerry added that Egypt exerts huge efforts locally and internationally in climate sector assuring the importance of these efforts for all the developed countries especially in Africa. 

- Former British Prime minister Boris Johnson thanked Egypt for its efforts to organize COP27, pointing out that he participated  in COP27  to build on the achievements of COP26 adding that humanity is in front of important turning moment.

- Prime Minister of Burundi Gervais Ndirakobuca congratulated Egypt for the great organization of COP27, pointing out that hosting such important international event reflects the international recognition and appreciation of Egypt’s role. Ndirakobuca praised the different initiatives presented by Egypt during COP27, these initiatives reflect clearly that Egypt is keen to raise the concerns of developing countries especially the African countries pertaining to climate issues to achieve the best interest of African and developing countries. Ndirakobuca assures that Burundi supports all the Egyptian initiatives presented in COP27.

- United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance and chief executive officer of Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) Mark Carney praised the organization of COP27.

- Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said “I would like to thank Egypt and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for the magnificent organization of COP27 which placed Africa in the core of COP27.’’

- EU Ambassador to Egypt Christian Berger praised the distinguished organization of the COP27 hoping that all its outcomes to be applied to face the future climate challenges. Berger added that the strong European representation in COP27 reflects to what extent it is a highly important event. 

- Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations Martin Griffiths praised the Egyptian efforts to organize COP27 saying ‘’ Thank you Egypt for the great efforts and the distinguished organization of COP27.”

- The Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) Jean Pierre Mbassi congratulated Egypt for the great organization of COP27, saying that this reflects that President Sisi has set an ambitious plan for his people and he is implementing this plan step by step.

- President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso praised the organization of COP27 and the charming beauty of Sharm El Sheikh that host the whole world to support the phase of turning recommendations to valid actions noting that Novy program is considered a pioneering experience to mobilize climate finance from development partners and the private sector. Basso said that President Sisi’s focus on this program in his speech during the leaders’ summit reflects the strong support he gives to climate issues.

- Editor in Chief of Alkhaleej newspaper Ahmed El Bahbany wrote in one of his articles that Egypt has organized COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh with the partcipation of 190 countries, 120 presidents and prime ministers, 10000 civil society organizations, 26500 international delegations and institutions, 3321 media people, with a total participants of 44174, all of the previous represents a success certificate to Egypt and reflects the great international appreciation to Egypt in the era of president Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

- Egypt has received a number of international praises from Praveen Agrawal, the UN World Food Program Representative and Country Director in Egypt, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Gelsomina Vigliotti, vice president of European Investment Bank.