Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development meets with the African Climate Alliance delegation

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, met recently with a delegation of representatives of the African Climate Alliance, which represents a gathering of African civil society organizations, concerned with climate change issues.

  The delegation included Augustin N'Djamenchi, Director of Policy and Technical Affairs of the Alliance, Fathia Abdel Majid, Financial Director and member of the Executive Secretariat, and Ahmed Fathi, National Coordinator of the Alliance.

During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said stressed the importance of Egypt's hosting of the next Conference of Parties to the Climate Change Convention COP 27, noting Egypt's preparations to host the conference through the formation of a higher committee headed by His Excellency the Prime Minister, with the membership of the relevant ministries.


El-Said also reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to include the issues of sustainability and confronting the phenomenon of climate change in national plans and strategies, foremost of which is updating the sustainable development strategy "Egypt Vision 2030".

She further stressed the necessity of applying environmental sustainability standards and increasing the percentage of green projects to 30% of the investment plan during FY 2021-2022, and aspiration to reach that percentage to 50% by 2024-2025.

 El-Said referred to the national strategies on climate change, green hydrogen, renewable energy, water resource management, launching green bonds, and others.

For his part, Augustine Ngamenchi indicated that the meeting of the coalition in Cairo is a first step in preparing African civil society organizations to participate in the Conference of Parties in Sharm El-Sheikh next year.

 Ngamanchi explained that Egypt will chair this conference on behalf of the African continent, and therefore they are counting on the Egyptian presidency of the conference to come up with recommendations that contribute to preserving the interests of the African continent and achieving its aspirations.

Fathia Abdul Majeed, the financial director of the coalition, highlighted the capacity-building programs for African civil society implemented by the coalition, led by the "Climate School" that is held annually in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in partnership with Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Ahmed Fathy, the national coordinator of the African Climate Change Alliance, added that the Egyptian Alliance for Climate Change "Egyptian Union for Climate Change" was launched, with the participation of 26 Egyptian civil society associations and institutions.

Over the past period, work has been done on building the capacities of the associations to the knowledge of climate change issues, the evolution of negotiations during the conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, and capacity building to adapt to climate change.

 He also dealt with some initiatives and projects being implemented in this framework, such as the Climate Pioneers Project, the Nile Tree, and the "Green Churches" initiative with the support of His Holiness Pope Tawadros.

This is in the context of building on the results of the previous Conference of Parties in Glasgow and preparing for the next conference in Sharm El Sheikh.