Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad said in a statement on Wednesday 23/11/2022 Egypt has gained significantly on the national, regional, and international levels by its hosting, on behalf of Africa, the 27th UN Climate Change Conference COP27.
COP27 Ministerial Coordinator and Envoy said Fouad said that at the international level Egypt has proven its ability to organise an international event of this magnitude, reflecting coordination and harmony between all ministries and concerned authorities in the state, and shedding more light on Egypt by the international media.
She added that the conference saw the participation of 50,000 individuals and various official and unofficial entities, including 120 heads of state and government, vice presidents, high-level representatives, and more than 14,000 participants from COP26.
Egypt also succeeded at the conference in paving the way to making voluntary carbon exchange accessible to the private sector to reduce their harmful emissions.
Fouad added that COP27 added a day for solutions, a day for water, and a day for biodiversity for the first time in conference history. The conference achieved a breakthrough in negotiations on loss and damage as well, she said.
On the African level, the conference highlighted Egypt's leading role in the African continent by activating the "Advancing Adaptation Action in Africa" launched by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi after the success in obtaining financial support from the US and developed countries to the tune of $150 million and hosting the initiative's management unit in Cairo. Moreover, as part of the US Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), the US has doubled its Adaptation Fund Pledge to $100 million.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
On the local level, Fouad said that Egypt was successful in securing funds for its projects, signing multiple agreements at the value of $83 billion.
She announced that the country has managed to secure $25 billion from the US to fund Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in the country.
The NbS, according to the World Bank, refers to actions taken to combat challenges of climate change, human health, food and water security, and disaster risk reduction. It involves protecting, sustainably managing, and restoring natural ecosystems in an effective and adaptive manner to provide human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
Furthermore, Germany pledged $1.5 billion annually to finance biodiversity. The Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy national project has so far received $10 billion from both state and non-state actors to finance its transitional phase to making Egypt a green economy.
In addition, the African Adaptation Initiative (AII), originally established in 2015, received funding at a value of $150 million. It aims to establish cohesion in collaboration between high-level pan-African and regional dialogues in order to implement adaptation while addressing the adaptation financing gap.
