RIYADH: Egypt is set to increase investment in renewable energy, the country’s president told world leaders gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh as he urged for more progress towards tackling climate change.
Speaking on the second day of the the UN Climate Change Conference, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called for action that would produce tangible impacts on global warming.
“From this rostrum, I urge you to become the model that the world hopes,” said the Egyptian leader.
El-Sisi highlighted that humans across this planet have a shared future, as well as “one goal and one hope, that same hope we cherish also here."
During his remarks, he urged the leaders to take more significant steps to reduce emissions and launch new ambitious projects that would inspire all stakeholders to provide funding.
“Trust will be the best guarantee of our success and progress and achieving our goals,” said El-Sisi.
He added tha Egypt is now determined to focus on and “increase investments in these key green areas.”
The Egyptian President underlined the need for strong will to move on with a goal of preventing temperature increases of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
He noted that the poor countries, which are currently suffering more than other nations from the effects of these crises, need the necessary financing to be secured in order for them to take realistic initiatives to cut emissions effectively.
According to a UN Climate Change report released in advance of COP27, although countries are bending the global greenhouse gas emission curve downward, efforts are still insufficient to keep the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
COP27, which will run until Nov. 18, is the largest annual gathering on climate action involving heads of state, ministers and negotiators, along with climate activists.
The event will focus on securing separate “loss and damage” funds, or compensation payments to climate-vulnerable countries already suffering from climate-related weather extremes, Wael Aboulmagd, special representative to the COP27 president, told Reuters.
Last May, Egypt announced its intention to position itself as an impartial arbiter while hosting this year’s summit, as it pushes other nations to act on climate pledges while promoting the interests of the developing world, a senior Egyptian official told Reuters.
“In this particular year it is in the interest of the process that a perception of impartiality and equal distance from everyone is maintained,” Aboulmagd said.
