Blended, innovative finance at heart of COP27 agenda: Mahmoud Mohieldin

CAIRO - 5 October 2022: UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and the UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Mahmoud Mohieldin, stressed Wednesday the need to activate innovative financing methods within the framework of updated strategies and policies such as debt swaps for investment in climate projects.

 

He also referred to the importance of  promoting blended finance through public and private sectors, as well as strengthening the role of non-state actors. 

 

These statements were part of his speech at India COP27 Roundtable held in India in cooperation with climate champions and Bloomberg Philanthropies to discuss the priorities of the upcoming climate summit to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh next November.

 

The session was held in coordination and the presence of Egyptian Ambassador to India, Wael Hamed, along with  Amit Prothi , Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Divya Sharma | Executive Director, The Climate Group.

 

During his speech, the climate champion highlighted the priorities of the upcoming climate summit, stressing the need to adopt a holistic approach  to ensure  the achievement of the goals of sustainable development  including climate ones,  a matter that  contributes to the people's just and equitable access to food, water and energy.

 

According to Mohieldin, this holistic approach integrates in a balanced manner all dimensions of climate action, namely mitigation, adaptation,  losses and damages in addition to  mobilizing the necessary financing. 

 

Meanwhile, the climate champion explained that COP27  focuses on shifting from pledges to implementation and practical application and not more promises, referring to Copenhagen's pledge to provide $100 billion annually to support climate action in developing countries.This amount represents only 3 percent of the needs of climate action in those countries. 

 

Mohieldin pointed to the need to strengthen the regional dimension of climate action, referring to the initiative of the five major regional forums to finance climate action and the sustainable development goals in cooperation with the United Nations regional commissions and climate champions. According to Mohieldin, these forums resulted in more than 70 projects that can be financed, implemented and invested. The Fifth Forum is scheduled to be held in Geneva this month.

 

Mohieldin noted the need to localize climate action, referring in this context to the national initiative for smart green projects recently launched by Egypt to present a number of projects that take into account environmental considerations and digital transformation.18 projects will be selected to be present in COP27.

 

Regarding climate finance, Mohieldin stressed the need to enhance the participation of the private sector, and mobilize  investment without adding more debt on the shoulders of developing countries and emerging markets. This is in addition to establishing a carbon market in line with the standards and conditions of the economies of developing countries, besides aligning the  budgets of countries with climate and development action.