Egypt’s role in mitigating climate change impacts from COP27 to COP28

CAIRO – 4 December 2023: The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), currently being held in Dubai, kicked off by Egypt handing over the presidency of the conference to COP28 President-designate Sultan Al-Jaber, in the attendance of the representatives of international organizations from more than 198 countries.

During its presidency of the COP27, which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt launched dozens of initiatives tackling climate change impacts and means of mitigation for the most affected countries, particularly in Africa. Egypt also made numerous pivotal decisions to help mitigate the impact of climate change, most prominently the decision to establish the Loss and Damage Fund.

“We cannot achieve our common goals without having everyone on board, most importantly the Global South. To establish climate justice, we have to provide the tools agreed upon in Sharm El-Sheikh to fund loss and damage. One of the most anticipated outcomes of COP28 is for the Loss and Damage Fund to be fully operationalized,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in his speech during the handover of the COP presidency.

Over the past year, Egypt has taken important measures through the cooperation of the ministries of environment and foreign affairs with other concerned ministries, which included updating the national pledge to produce 42 percent of the total energy from renewable sources to be by 2030 instead of 2023, and accelerating the pace of transition to sustainable (low carbon) transport.

In her speech at the first Global Stock Take (GST), which tackles a comprehensive assessment of progress since adopting the Paris Agreement in 2015, Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said that the global climate assessment is a good opportunity to support and mobilize the international action and focus on the deficiencies in multilateral financing, especially for the developing countries.

She added that the developing countries need to acquire $160 billion in funds annually to adapt to climate change impact, while the actual annual funds come to $22 billion. Further, the developing countries’ set climate fund until 2030 is $6 trillion, while the actual fund is $100 billion.

President Sisi: Adopting more resolute actions is a must

In his speech at the Summit of the Heads of State and Government on December 1, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt, drawing upon its chairmanship of last year’s conference and the direct impact of climate change it endures, acknowledges the pressing need to work toward enhancing collective and urgent action to address the challenge of climate change.

He added that this shall take place in a manner that bolsters our ability to ensure sustainable development, aligning harmoniously with the environment, safeguarding Planet Earth for future generations, and addressing the devastating climate impact, which surpasses the capacity of nations, particularly developing countries, to manage and curb it on the diverse development domains.

“We were keen, in Sharm El-Sheikh, on launching several courses of action that would contribute to achieving our aspirations in this regard. Those included primarily the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund to provide financial assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by climate change; the “Just Transition Action Plan”; and the “Emissions Reduction Action Plan.” We have also paved the way for achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation to Climate Change.

“We firmly believe that achieving these goals is possible if we embrace a spirit of cooperation. Therefore, we urge the international community to adopt more resolute actions in the Dubai Conference, and to expand the engagement of community stakeholders, while avoiding unilateral measures that only serve narrow interests,” the president said.

The Egyptian pavilion’s messages at COP28

Egyptian Pavilion at the COP28 is leading global talks aimed at promoting a flexible and environment friendly future, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Environment’s Friday statement. On the first day, the Egyptian Pavilion discussed various topics such as climate financing, engaging youth, civil society, and people with disabilities.

It also highlighted topics related to voluntary carbon markets, which cover pollution-reducing projects in the Global South to explore the pivotal role of these markets in driving sustainable development and resilience in the Global South (Brazil, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China).

African Center of Excellence for Resilience and Adaptation

On the sidelines of the COP28 meetings, Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad and Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD Nardos Bekele-Thomas signed an agreement to establish and host the African Center of Excellence for Resilience and Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change.

The agreement aims to assert that the African continent is, starting in 2024, guaranteed to ensure the sustainability of funding sources, capacity building, technology exchange, and the lessons learned from the experiences of the communities most affected by climate change.

Fouad said that establishing the center is based on the offer made by Egypt during its presidency of the African Union in 2019 to support AU Member States in fulfilling the commitments made by African governments to achieve the AU Agenda 2063, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which tackles three dimensions of disaster risk (exposure to hazards, vulnerability and capacity, and hazard's characteristics), besides several other multilateral environmental agreements.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), It is estimated that 1.3 billion Africans will need support to adapt to climate change by 2030, and this number is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2050.

In implementation of the recommendations of the COP27 climate conference, the Egyptian minister of environment participated in the first high-level ministerial roundtable on a just transition held at the COP28. She said that working to achieve a just transition is a pivotal aspect of the global commitments regarding climate.

On the second day of the COP28 meetings, the events began with the Sharm El-Sheikh Fair Finance Guidebook, which was launched during COP27, where Egypt painted a vivid picture of actionable agendas to mobilize additional financing.

The sessions tackled the Egyptian National Initiative for Smart Green Projects that was hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, and reviewed the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education’s contributions to international scientific research, as well as efforts to address climate change.

Egypt will continue its climate activities at the Egyptian Pavilion, and will participate in other big events and meetings on the sidelines of the conference.