A Special event organized by BEBA on March 6 In honour of H.E. Sameh Shoukry Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt President-Designate of COP27. The session was moderated by Eng. Khaled Nosseir, Chairman, BEBA and Maged El Menshawy, Vice Chairman, BEBA

Shoukry made the remarks during an event organised by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) on Sunday around the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP27) that Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh city will host in November.

Founded in 1996, the BEBA is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation that serves the interests of the Egyptian-British business community.

Facing climate change requires the contributions of all parties, Shoukry said, noting that the business community can support Egypt’s transition to a green economy and foster cooperation on renewable energy.

He affirmed the necessity of political will and a proper legislative framework to achieve these goals.

Egypt has also reiterated that it will focus on exploring how the private sector and NGOs can play a role in financing green investments during the conference.

Late in February, Egypt appointed its highly-experienced economist Mahmoud Mohieldin, who has been serving as an executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the country’s high-level champion for COP27.

Mohieldin’s appointment as Egypt’s climate champion aims at enhancing the communication between the Egyptian presidency of COP27 and businesses, the private sector and international funding institutions working in the climate change-related fields, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Egypt is keen, as president of COP27, to ensure the engagement of all parties concerned with climate action in the ongoing efforts to prepare for the conference, Shoukry affirmed.

The country is also keen on reviewing the efforts of projects that are seriously attempting to confront climate change, Shoukry said.

Shoukry reviewed ongoing cooperation between Egypt and Britain in facing climate change, including within international multilateral frameworks.

This includes the Adaptation Action Coalition (AAC), which is-co-chaired by Egypt and the UK and is concerned with global action on climate adaptation, Shoukry said.Founded in January 2021, the AAC is a British-led coalition that seeks to expedite global action on adaptation to achieve climate resilience worldwide.

The top Egyptian diplomat also highlighted cooperation between the two countries on the bilateral level through British investments in many sectors in Egypt, especially renewable energy.

This year witnesses the transfer of the leadership of global climate action from Britain, which presided over COP26 in Glasgow last year, to Egypt, Shoukry said.

Egypt is keen to build on the outcomes of the Glasgow summit and move forward toward the actual implementation of climate pledges, Shoukry added.

Over the past months, Egypt has reiterated ambitious plans to support efforts to reduce emissions and provide funding for developing countries to deal with climate change during its scheduled hosting of COP27.

Climate finance has been debated at every COP meeting since developed countries failed to meet their promise to mobilise $100 billion in climate finance annually by 2020 to help developing nations with mitigation and adaptation efforts.

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