Egypt's Minister of Planning discusses the future steps of the ministry’s initiatives launched during COP27
25 December 2022
H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development received on Sunday Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Director of the Department of Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss future steps regarding the initiatives launched by the ministry during (CoP27).
The meeting witnessed the presence of Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning, Dr. Mona Essam, Assistant Minister for Sustainable Development Affairs, Mr. Kamal Nasr, Assistant Minister for Technical Office Affairs, and Ambassador Hazem Khairat, Director of the International Cooperation Office.
During the meeting, El-Said reviewed the initiatives launched by the ministry at COP27, referring to the initiative of the "Friends of Greening National Investment Plans in Africa and Developing Countries."
The aforementioned initiative aims to promote the concept of “greening national investment plans” as one of the methods that can be used to coordinate and disseminate policies and direct investment in priority projects for transformation towards low-emission development and accelerate the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to achieve the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement.
El-Said also referred to the member states of the initiative, namely the Republic of Chad, Gabon, Pakistan, and Malawi, explaining that the future steps of the initiative include holding consultations with the friends of the initiative, activating its governance structure, adopting an implementation plan, strengthening the trend towards greening national investment plans and fully activating the initiative in (CoP28).
El-Said also referred to the initiative of Decent Life in Africa which can withstand climate change, explaining that it aims to improve the quality of life in 30% of the poorest and most vulnerable villages to climate change by 2030, in a way that supports efforts to confront climate change and accelerates the implementation of contribution plans.
El-Said added that the initiative can be implemented by working to integrate the climate-friendly approach into national plans and economic policies for rural development and social protection programs, linking these policies to sustainable development goals and nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and supporting integrated climate-friendly solutions to facilitate access to basic services. The member states of the initiative include Rwanda, Botswana, Togo, and Malawi.
El-Said drew attention to the Cairo Center for the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals, which was announced at the COP27 conference in cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) under the umbrella of the International Alliance (Local 2030).
She further noted that it aims to build capacities and prepare the methodologies and mechanisms necessary for the localization of resources. This is done by providing support to local and national governments, civil society, academic institutions, and international and regional organizations.