Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said Egypt updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) plan for the second time to increase the contribution of renewables to the energy mix to 42 percent by 2030 instead of 2035, as well as reduce emissions from the electricity sector to 80 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, instead of 70 million tons by 2030.
Fouad made the remarks during her participation in a panel session held on the sidelines of the seventh ministerial meeting on climate action in Belgium’s capital, Brussels, according to a statement released by the Environment Ministry on Friday.
The session tackled ways of fostering international cooperation in climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as the mechanisms for accelerating global collaboration in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the near term.
The environment minister called for facilitating access to renewable energy technologies and offering grants and concessional financing to developing countries, in addition to supporting projects in those countries, so that they could switch to using smart grids.
She underlined the necessity of providing capacity building programs, backing micro-grid pilot projects in the most vulnerable areas, and ensuring that the energy transition is just and does not have serious social and economic impacts on communities.
The minister stated that accelerating the fair energy transition requires the provision of financing for developing countries to narrow the global North-South gap and reforming the financial architecture of multilateral development banks and international financial institutions to allow more risk reduction plans.
The minister said the world needs a clear framework for assessing the progress made in resilience and adaptation to climate change, taking into account the expected challenges based on the information stated in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United Nations Environment Program.
