COP27 provides a unique opportunity for everyone to face the challenges of climate change: Planning Minister

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, participated on Monday in a symposium entitled "When will leaders lead?  ... Creating fiscal space and directing financing for climate and health goals", which was held during the activities on the first day of Cop27.The conference will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, in the presence of several world heads of state, as well as more than 40,000 people representing about 190 countries, and dozens of international and regional organizations.The seminar was hosted by the First Minister of Scotland, Mrs. Nicola Sturgeon, in the presence of Professor Mariana Mazzucato, President of the Council of the World Health Organization. During the symposium, Dr. Hala El-Said emphasized that climate change is the most serious challenge.  El-Said pointed to the suffering that the world will face with continued warming and increasing pressure on the borders of the planet, as the negative effects of the climate crisis on human life and health are of concern, as nearly 25% of deaths worldwide are caused by environmental risk factors. El-Said said that COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh provides a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to address the challenges at hand and move quickly from the stage of thinking and commitments to the stage of solutions and implementation. El-Said pointed out that the African continent's contribution to climate change, which is the region most vulnerable to its impacts and least contributing to it, is close to 6% of the continent's contribution to global carbon emissions, and Africans emit only 0.7 tons of carbon per capita annually, compared to a global average of 4.5 tons. Yet the United Nations estimates the number of undernourished people in drought-prone sub-Saharan Africa increased by nearly 45% between 2012 and 2020. The Minister of Planning added that failure to take immediate action not only leads to setbacks to development efforts but also threatens to reverse the gains made by African countries in recent years to reduce poverty and improve their economies.  El-Said affirmed the right of African countries to expand energy consumption and thus achieve economic activity. Dr. Hala El-Said pointed out that Africa is home to the largest number of people suffering from multidimensional poverty, and that about 600 million Africans live without electricity, which limits people's ability to access information, education, health, and legal services.   El-Said emphasized that the solution is for the world to invest in helping African countries expand their capabilities in the field of renewable energy through the production of green hydrogen, for example, and to allow the growth and development of African countries to advance through sustainable means. Dr. Hala El-Said stressed the importance of financing climate action, explaining the importance of adequate funding needed to support efforts to achieve development goals while mitigating and adapting to climate change.  El-Said pointed out that, according to recent forecasts, developing countries will need about $340 billion annually by 2030 to adapt to climate change. El-Said added that Africa needs $250 billion annually, between 2020 and 2030, to implement its NDCs, which represents pressure on those countries towards achieving development goals, especially in light of the recurrent and overlapping global crises that already limit fiscal space. The Minister of Planning and Economic Development indicated that "financial tools" represent an essential element in defining policies and raising the level of ambition, taking into account the levels of external and internal debt in developing countries, including Egypt, which limits the ability of decision-makers to raise the level of ambition. Dr. Hala El-Said also stressed the importance of cooperation with the private sector, noting that public-private partnerships are effective and innovative tools for financing climate-related projects. Public-private partnerships can help achieve many goals.On the situation inside Egypt, El-Said referred to the role of Egypt's sovereign fund, which works to enhance Egypt's potential through investment in the private sector. The fund is also actively involved in renewable energy projects. It seeks to attract private investors to the unique opportunities that lie in Egypt's abundant natural resources, including sunlight and wind.  El-Said stressed that increasing the capacity of renewable energy production in Egypt will enable it to become a leader in the fields of green fuel supply and water desalination, as well as the export of green ammonia and e-methanol.El-Said noted that The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) seeks to expand in this field by providing green hydrogen production projects with the private sector, as a pilot project has been implemented with local and international partners and will be launched during CoP-27 as the first project in this regard, in addition to the signing of several other framework agreements. She further explained that the fund would launch a platform and invite interested financial investors to jointly invest in it. This will give them access to many projects across the green energy value chain. After her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said affirmed that Egypt has significant potential for the production of renewable energy, pointing to the Egyptian state's aspiration for a strong partnership with other countries to bridge the energy gap facing Europe in light of current geopolitical developments.  El-Said noted that addressing the impact of climate change must take place through an integrated approach that ensures harmony between the global environmental agenda, whether in biodiversity, climate change, or combating desertification, and the broader context for achieving sustainable development and poverty eradication, through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.