During HLPF 2023 activities in NY:The Minister of Planning and Economic Development meets with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on climate action

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, met with Mr. Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Climate Action and Assistant Secretary-General of the Climate Action Team.

 

This came during her presence in New York to participate in the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development for 2023 which will be held from 10 to 19 July.

 

 

The meeting witnessed the presence of Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, and Dr. Mona Essam, Assistant Minister for Sustainable Development Affairs.

 

During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, emphasized the importance the ministry attaches to its partnership with the United Nations system. This is especially true in climate action and a just transition.

 

El-Said talked about several initiatives that the ministry is working on, referring to the national initiative for smart green projects as being on the ministry's priority agenda. She added that the first round of the initiative achieved substantial success, receiving about 6,200 projects. These projects were filtered after the evaluation process to 162 winning projects.

 

El-Said added that the evaluation process during the second round of the initiative will witness the evaluation of projects based on several criteria, including environmental impact, energy efficiency, and renewable energy, in addition to economic feasibility, social impact, level of innovation, and the use of smart technology, as well as applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

 

El-Said highlighted the "Decent Life" initiative, which aims to transform more than 4,500 Egyptian villages into sustainable rural communities, and covers more than 58 million Egyptian citizens.

 

El-Said indicated that the state aims to integrate climate policies into the initiative because climate change has become a top priority worldwide. This is given that the Decent Life Initiative is the largest development project in Egypt and the world.

 

On the "A decent Life for Africa Resilient to climate change" initiative, Dr. Hala El-Said explained that based on the success of the decent Life initiative, the ministry embarked on a continent-wide journey to support African countries in integrating climate action and improving the quality of life for about 30% of the most vulnerable villages.

 

El-Said added that the initiative aims to enhance the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement and support the efforts of African countries to implement their nationally determined contributions, by integrating climate action into sustainable rural development in Africa in a climate-sensitive manner to reach the "Africa We Want."

 

El-Said talked about the Friends of Greening National Investment Plans initiative in Africa, stressing that it represents one of Cop27's success stories and tangible results.

 

El-Said explained that the initiative aims to promote the concept of "greening national investment plans" as one of the methods that can be used to generalize and prioritize measures and investments to meet the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, as well as to promote the implementation of nationally determined contributions in the context of achieving sustainable development in Africa and developing countries.

 

 

About the transition to a green economy, El-Said affirmed that the Egyptian government is making efforts to transition to sustainable and green financing, with several good practices in various financing mechanisms, including; Blended financing, renewable bonds, and sukuk, results-based financing, as well as financing for development and urban projects are among the activities of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE).

 

El-Said indicated that Egypt is seeking to promote green public procurement to encourage sustainable consumption and production by setting the government as an example. This is as encouraging green public procurement and practices is expected to contribute significantly to more sustainable and efficient use of resources in various sectors.

 

El-Said noted that the Egyptian government has developed a guide to environmental sustainability standards to integrate sustainable and equitable development standards into national plans.

 

She stressed the importance of these criteria to ensure the country's transition to green public investments. This is to achieve 50%-60% of green projects by 2024/2025.

 

 

El-Said also indicated that the government has localized the sustainable development goals locally and measured the goals to evaluate and analyze the volume of investments directed to achieve them. In addition, the government is developing innovative ways to finance sustainable development goals.

 

Regarding the Risks and Damages Fund launched by Egypt during Cop27 activities, El-Said stressed the need to activate the fund and search for its funding sources instead of searching for developing countries to be funded.

 

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said stressed that climate change is still at the top of the Egyptian state's priority agenda. It is embodied in Egypt's 2030 sustainable development strategy and one of its basic priorities for the decade of action to achieve the SDGs.

 

El-Said explained that climate action and sustainable growth can only be achieved with the support and more dynamic participation of the private sector and international partners.