Sisi urges launching ambitious, effective climate initiatives

07 / 11 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi urges launching ambitious and effective climate initiatives as Egypt is due to announce new climate-related overtures within the coming few days.

Addressing the opening session of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), Sisi said “I suggest announcing more nationally determined contributions, raising the ambition of your strategies to reduce emissions, launching ambitious and effective initiatives that gather proactive actors around clear goals with regard to adaptation and financing, following-up on the implementation of previously launched initiatives and joining the new ones, which Egypt intends to launch during the conference.”

Sisi said “Today, what our world needs to overcome the current climate crisis, to reach what we have agreed on as goals of the Paris Agreement, and surpass slogans and words. Today, our peoples expect from us rapid, effective and equitable implementation. Our peoples expect us to take real and concrete steps towards reducing emissions, enhancing adaptation with the consequences of climate change, and providing the necessary financing for developing countries that suffer the most from the current climate crisis.”

“Therefore, we have been keen to call this Conference: ‘Implementation Summit ‘, which is the goal that all our efforts and endeavors must center around,” the president said.

“Despite all the challenges that we have faced and still face, as well as all the factors, which I know, cast shadow on our ability to reach the Paris Agreement goals and to protect our planet from a future in which temperature increase reaches 2.5° C and 3° C, there is evidence that make us hold on to hope in humanity’s ability to make a better future for generations to come. Generations that must not bear the consequences of mistakes they have not made. Peoples who have become more aware and knowledgeable of the scale of the challenges and the requirements to address them, and the high price of inaction. There is also hope in governments that know what they need to do and seek to do that according to their capabilities and hope in a global business sector and civil society that own the tools that qualify them to play important roles within this framework,” Sisi added.

“We are all here today to discuss one of the most important and pressing global issues that is combating climate change through the work of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27), which is currently taking place in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh, the city of peace, and the first of Egyptian cities to know its path towards green transformation. The eyes and minds of millions around the world are directed towards the city to follow our conference and the resulting outcomes, which will contribute to the transformation of millions of people’s destinies for the better and the creation of a clean and sustainable environment. A climate that is more responsive to the peoples’ needs and conditions that are conducive to life, work and growth, without damaging our world’s resources, which must be further developed and invested, and made more sustainable,” he added.

“I have confidence that you are here today …to respond to the concerns of the millions around the globe who are now, more than ever, suffering from climate disasters, whose pace is accelerating and intensity is increasing, in an unprecedented manner, day by day, all over our planet,” he said.

“One disaster ends in one place and another starts in a different place, leaving behind thousands of victims, injured and displaced and causing billions in material losses. It is as if the world has become a stage, a constant display of human suffering in the strongest form,” Sisi said.

Egypt’s efforts to address climate crisis:

“In Egypt, we have set ambitious goals expressed in Egypt’s National Strategy to Address Climate Change. We are working diligently to accelerate the pace of green transformation by expanding reliance on renewable energy and clean transport. We have taken concrete steps towards the structural transformation of bills, legislation and government working mechanisms so as to contribute to the promotion of green investments,” the president highlighted.

“Perhaps the national programs for investing in the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) Program that Egypt has recently launched is an embodiment of this ambition and trend. Egypt’s transition towards a low-emission green economy in all areas is a practical demonstration for the need for effective implementation on the ground and is a good example that hope still exists to overcome the challenges imposed by climate change, if there is will and determination,” he said.

“You probably agree with me that if we truly want to walk into a future where we ensure that temperatures remain below 2 °C and if we are truly determined to create a future for all by all, it is my duty to honestly share a few concerns that we should not overlook. Our ability as an international community to move ahead in a unified and coordinated manner to implement our commitments and pledges in accordance with the Paris Agreement is contingent on the level of trust we are able to build among us,” the president added.

“It is, therefore, necessary for developing countries, especially in our African continent, to feel that their priorities are addressed and taken into consideration. These countries bear their responsibilities, to the best of their abilities and the amount of appropriate support and finance, in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, granting them some satisfaction with their position on global efforts to combat climate change,” he said.

“This will only materialize by building mutual trust to motivate and support more constructive work. Also, it will not materialize without developed countries taking additional serious steps to fulfill the pledges they have taken upon themselves to finance and support adaptation efforts and address the losses and damages resulting from climate change in developing and the least developed countries. This shall take place in a manner that ensures the formulation of practical tracks to achieve a balanced transition towards a green economy and takes into account the special circumstances and conditions of these countries,” the president said.

“Your presence here today is a confirmation of the attention you accord to climate change action, which I hope will reflect on the alignment of your countries’ positions with the title of the summit: Implementation,” he said.

“Today, I appeal for your messages to the world, which is highly expecting of us, to be clear messages, including specific steps to implement commitments and pledges,” Sisi added.

“Most importantly, I ask you to advise your negotiators, who will start two weeks of important negotiations, to be flexible and to work on building trust and consensus in order to reach outcomes, which I am certain that you, world leaders, want this conference to result in,” he stressed.

“The hope I share with you today is not merely wishful, but rather one driven by the ability to work and act. Many of our countries have been able, over the past year, to provide bright examples of this work and this ability, advancing forward with the implementation of their commitments, despite all difficulties. From here, I call on you to follow these models and not allow any factors to undermine our resolve and ability to combat the challenge of climate change, which will not recede nor stop without our intervention,” he said.

“Time is pressing and the end of this decade is a few years away. We have to make the best of these years to win this battle in a way that we want and are satisfied with,” he added.

“Now is the time for action and implementation. There is no room to retreat or use challenges as pretexts to justify that. Missing the opportunity means squandering the legacy of future generations; our children and grandchildren,” he said.

“I have confidence in your wisdom, in your understanding of this crucial moment in the life of our planet. I know that we all measure up to the responsibility entrusted to us. Let us now move together towards implementation and nothing but implementation,” he concluded.