Egypt urges boosting int’l support for climate change adaptation in developing states

CAIRO – 4 September 2023: Egypt has stressed that the implementation of national climate adaptation projects in developing and African countries represents a burden on their budgets.

This requires boosting international support to enhance these countries’ ability to tackle the negative impacts of climate change, Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad said on Monday in a speech during Africa Climate Summit held in Kenya’s Nairobi.

Fouad, also the ministerial coordinator and envoy for the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), stressed the need for developed countries to fulfill their commitments by providing necessary support to developing countries for expanding adaptation activities.

Fouad affirmed the need for achieving a 50/50 balance between financing to mitigation and adaptation efforts as soon as possible, Fouad added.

The key to achieving the global adaptation goal lies in transitioning from planning to execution, the minister said, adding that scaling up adaptation financing has become imperative.

This comes especially after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a warning about the urgent need to accelerate adaptation to support the resilience and livelihoods of populations in developing countries, she added.

Adopting an implementation framework for these goals is essential and inevitable at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in order to ensure the continuity of adaptation work.

Adaptation, COP27

COP27, which Egypt hosted last November, saw significant progress on adaptation as governments reached an agreement on the roadmap for the Global Goal on Adaptation, which will be finalized at COP28.

Notably, pledges exceeding $230 million were announced for the Adaptation Fund during COP27. These commitments will support numerous vulnerable communities in implementing tangible adaptation measures to combat climate change.