EGYPT: Governments and private sector representatives have real desire to work on climate change issues, Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt, has argued.
He says that frameworks and goals set by Egypt, as the president of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), and Indonesia, as the president of G20 in 2022, are almost similar.
His remarks came during his participation in a session entitled “The 2022 Indonesian Presidency of the G20: Recover Together.. Recover Stronger”, within the activities of the Annual Meetings of The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) held in Sharm El Sheikh, in attendance and participation of Dr Rania Almashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Mohamed Algaser, the IsDB president.
“Indonesia aims to achieve digital transition, environmental transition and sustainable financing of SDGs during its presidincy of G20, and Egypt sees that dealing with climate change should be done within a wider framework that includes all SDGs and ensures provision of needed climate action financing, we can see then how G20 and COP27 goals are similar and crossing”, Mohieldin explained.
The Climate champion added that G20 and COP27 goals are short, mid and long term ones, saying that the insistence of international community on discussing and working on these goals regardless of the COVID-19, war in Ukraine, food and economic crises reflects their importance.
“Recently, I found that governments and representatives of private sector have a real desire to work on climate change issues.” Mohieldin said, adding that COP27 will gather all stakeholders including governments, businesses, regional and international bodies in the aim of making real difference in climate situation.
He explained, in this context, that COP27 will not repeat previous conferences, but it will build on the previous results and move on towards the actual implementation of climate action.
“Dealing with climate change depends mainly on five axis, first of them is adopting a holistic approach where working on climate goals is a part of working on SDGs as whole, not to work on achieving one of these goals in isolation of the others.” Mohieldin clarified, saying that working on decarbonization – for example – should go through an inclusive environmental transition stands on scientific ground.
He said that the second axis relates to the actual and immediate implementation of climate projects, and turning all previous climate conferences pledges into work mechanisms.
“The third axis relates to adding the regional aspect to climate projects, whether from the project benefit, implementation or financing.” The Egyptian climate champion added.
He said that the fourth axis relates to the sustainable finance of climate projects, explaining that the world needs ten doubles the sum pledged by Copenhagen conference (100 billion dollars) to finance various climate projects.
Mohieldin pointed in this context to the importance of the engagement of the private sector, businesses and international entities in financing climate projects in the shape of investments, not loans or debts.
The fifth axis, according to Mohieldin, relates to localisation of sustainable development projects including climate ones, so that they can benefit every village and city, and transforming all previous climate conferences and summits outcomes into tangible results on the ground.
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