Egypt will be hosting the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh from November 6 to 18. The world leaders’ summit will take place on November 7 and 8, where many heads of state and of government will sit together to discuss different aspects and challenges related to climate change.
COP27 comes at a very challenging time, where the international community is facing multiple challenges, from geopolitical ones, to food security, energy prices and, most important of all, finance challenges such as debt burden to increasing interest rates.
Probably the most dangerous development is what we sense as a retreat from some countries regarding their policies and pledges related to climate action. This is happening while climate change impacts are worsening and science is telling us the situation will not get any better if we continue on the current path.
Egypt has assumed the presidency of COP27 with a clear realisation of the importance of global efforts on climate change and an appreciation of the value of multilateral action as the only means to address the global threat.
In this context, we are engaging with all stakeholders and major partners to make sure that this message is heard and spread all over the world. It is imperative that geopolitical confrontations should not hinder the collective global efforts to tackle climate change’s challenges.
The COP takes place while developing countries, especially African countries, are struggling with adaptation to climate change impacts and lack of finance. Egypt will echo the concerns and priorities of developing countries, especially African countries, during this COP.
Having said that, Egypt will try to position itself as an impartial arbiter and mediate between developed and developing countries that have disagreements over issues related to carbon emissions and climate finance.
Climate change’s impact on developing countries, mainly in Africa, should be taken into its context as these countries are struggling against poverty, lack of development, social challenges, lack of economic opportunities and much more. Adapting to the consequences of climate change will just add another burden to the already existing ones.
Egypt will echo the concerns and priorities of developing countries, especially African countries- Khaled Anis
For this purpose, developed countries, international organisations, civil society and the private sector are invited to change the narrative about how to tackle such challenges from the outdated aid approach to an innovative approach of investing in sustainable development and empowering the most vulnerable communities in such countries.
Egypt’s vision to this COP can be summed up in the urgent need to shift from pledges and potential contributions to delivery and implementation on time (the Implementation COP), based on the agreed work streams in Paris and the ambition reflected until and during Glasgow.
It is time to accelerate, scale up, replicate success stories and deliver through the right mechanisms. So we can keep the 1.5-degree goal alive and make sure we stay well below the two degrees.
There must be a balance between actions to reduce emissions and work on the net-zero pledges and the legitimate aspirations for sustainable development and to adapt to climate change with just transition as a core principle. A balanced call on climate change should include adaptation and resilience as key priorities and ensure delivery of finance and technology as main enablers.
Egypt wants to focus also on ‘loss and damage’. We want to close the negotiating gap between developed and developing countries.
Also, a topic of great importance is to make finance flows a reality, especially for adaptation (10 per cent of the total amount allocated to climate change goes to adaptation). Providing, mobilising and delivering climate finance for developing countries is an urgent priority and needs a new mindset, updated strategies and policies.
It is imperative to make the appropriate financial flows that are based on needs identified through NDCs and other vehicles, with a focus on concessional finance instruments, and grants as appropriate, while providing a clear revision of definition of bankable projects.
To achieve this vision, this COP will deal with several critical topics such as just transition, food security, water security, energy, science and decarbonisation.
To conclude, delivering a comprehensive, ambitious mitigation work programme, achieving and capturing meaningful progress on the global goal on adaptation, addressing the loss and damage deficit including finding a balanced solution to the funding issue and effectively addressing the climate finance challenge are among the main priorities of this COP, which will not be achieved if not for our multilateral, collective efforts.
It is time for implementation, turning words into actions and deliverables which will be achieved if we meet our pledges and increase our ambitions.
Khaled Anis is the Ambassador of Egypt to Malta.