Egypt, AfDB harness regional climate action, south-south Cooperation through innovative climate finance

CAIRO - 15 March 2022:  With African countries on the front lines of climate change risks, the Ministry of International Cooperation is ramping up support through its new country strategies that mainstream climate change adaptation and resilience throughout its operations. 

 

The Minister of International Cooperation, Rania A. Al-Mashat, held a high-level meeting with a delegation led by the Vice-President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Kevin Kariuki, to harness South-South cooperation and enhance regional climate change action through innovative climate financing. 

 

In accordance with the Ministry’s goals and aspirations in developing a framework for innovative finance, the Minister discussed preparations of the new country strategy with the Bank for 2022-2026, which will focus on gender-responsive climate action, improved climate-smart agriculture practices, and increased renewable energy generation capacity. 

 

The Minister noted that the Government of Egypt is pushing forward cooperative and win-win international partnerships by emphasizing technical support and sharing existing best practices to develop an international framework for climate finance in cooperation.

 

Moving into the post-Glasgow era, the Minister added the current stage should focus on shifting commitments to action, as the success of the COP27 conference will depend on the ability to create the appropriate atmosphere that allows the different parties to reach consensus on the most prominent issues, and to put forward several serious and effective initiatives that can be implemented.

 

The Minister added that improving gender equality contributes to policy choices that lead to better environmental governance, as there are opportunities for the private sector to be enhanced through bridging technological gaps for rural women so that more women can be engaged in the green transition and promote inclusive climate action. Women are also at the forefront of climate change decision-making in their homes through either recycling used cooking oil, crop production and reducing food waste.

 

For his part, Vice-President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Kevin Kariuki, said: “Egypt has undertaken tremendous efforts to address climate change vulnerability and impacts on the key sectors (energy, transport, waste, water, industry and agriculture) and has invested significantly to put forward measures to enhance their resilience. It is important to showcase these achievements.”

The current portfolio of the Ministry of International Cooperation’s ongoing projects includes 85 projects worth $11.9 billion directly and indirectly contributing to the achievement of SDG 13: Climate Action.

 

Against the backdrop of the COP 26 conference, Egypt announced its official National Climate Change Strategy, which focuses on five main goals: lowering carbon emissions and increasing reliance on clean energy, building resilience through protecting citizens’ health and confronting biodiversity loss, governance and business management to promote green foreign investment, climate financing, and enhancing scientific research.