Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry — President-Designate of the 27th UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) — said that the COP27 will be a turning point in international climate action, stressing that it is high time that the world move past the pledges phase to on the ground implementation.
The FM’s remarks came in the opening session of the Forum for Environment and Development 2022 that was held on Sunday under the theme of the ‘The Road to Sharm El-Sheikh.’ The forum was organised by the Arab Water Council (AWC) under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The conference was opened by the Ministers of Electricity and Renewable Energy and Water Resources and Irrigation, along with the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Egypt’s High-Level Champion of Climate Change at the UN Mahmoud Mohieldin, the UN’s Resident Coordinator in Egypt, among other officials and experts.
In a statement, Ahmed Abu Zeid — Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — pointed to the importance of holding this conference at the current time, as it highlights water issues and scarcity and its relation to climate change issues in general with the aim of contributing to the ongoing substantive preparations for the COP27, which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh this November.
In his speech at the conference, Shoukry highlighted the Egyptian presidency’s desire for the COP27 to represent a turning point in international climate action, moving away from promises and pledges to actual implementation on the ground. He also reviewed the vision of the Egyptian presidency of the conference for a number of priority issues in combating climate change.