By Fatima Saka
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Egypt will speak up for Africa’s aspirations to cope with climate change during the coming 27th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is set to take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.
Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry attending a meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) in Addis Ababa on Sunday, made this assertion during his speech to a meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) on the sidelines of the two-day 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly, which kicked off on Saturday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Egypt spares no effort to help African countries overcome their challenges: FM Shoukry tells AU.
Shoukry who urges publicising outcomes of African climate-monitoring satellite project at COP27, expressed that African Union pledges support to Egypt in hosting COP27 to reach ‘concrete actions’ on climate change Egypt will host the COP27 “on behalf of Africa.”
Meanwhile, Africa has been negatively impacted by climate change despite being the least contributor to polluting emissions, he added.
Shoukry also noticed that the continent is receiving “inadequate” financing to cope with climate amid its limited ability to obtain the modern technology needed to adapt to the negative repercussions of climate change.
Also according to Senegal’s President Macky Sall, African countries together are responsible for no more than four percent of the global emission of carbon dioxide.
Sall was elected on Saturday by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union as the chairperson of the AU in 2022, taking over from President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 2021 AU chairperson.
During the speech delivered to the COP26 in Glasgow late last year, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called on developed countries to fulfill their pledge to provide $100 billion annually to developing countries to address the effects of climate change.
El-Sisi offered assurances that Egypt would seek during its presidency of the COP27 to enhance international climate action to achieve the goals of the Paris agreement, which will achieve the interests of the global community.
Furthermore, the Egyptian president also urged at the COP26, the need to preserve the Paris Climate Accords to ensure the bolstering of efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to the negative implications of climate change.
In a pre-recorded speech to the World Leaders Summit on Climate Change on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly, El-Sisi vowed that Egypt’s hosting of the conference would be a major turning point in the global fight against climate change.
Egypt’s top diplomat hailed during the CAHOSCC meeting on the outcomes of the COP26, but also argued “there is still much to be done in terms of efforts needed to deal with climate change.
“Egypt seeks to build on the momentum generated by the Glasgow conference and make all possible efforts to move from the stage of commitments to the stage of actual implementation on the ground,” Shoukry stressed.
As the host of COP27 later this year, Egypt would adopt “a comprehensive” approach that takes into account the concerns and priorities of the various parties,” Shoukry said, calling on African countries to support the Egyptian efforts in a way that contributes to the success of the conference.
The 55 member states of the AU reviewed at the annual summit various reports in three sessions: a session on Peace, Security and Governance; a session on African Citizen Well-Being: Health, Nutrition and Food Security, and a third session on Regional Integration through A Green Inclusive and Resilient Economic Recovery.