President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Glasgow, Scotland earlier today, where he will head the Egyptian delegation in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26).
The Glasgow meeting is being referred to as ‘the last chance conference’ to get world leaders to agree on the mechanism to implement the steps required to keep global warming at less than 2 degrees Celsius — preferably at 1.5 Celsius.
The objective is to avoid a disastrous increase of 2.7 Celsius during this century, which could have major impacts on agriculture, biodiversity, and water resources.
In Glasgow, President El-Sisi is expected to underline Egypt’s commitment to combat climate change and to review the steps thus far taken in terms of moving to green energy and investing in a green economy.
He is also expected to share Egypt’s growing concerns on the impact of climate change on its resources.
Moreover, the president is expected to stress the need to divide responsibilities equitably among the countries of the world to keep the global temperature’s rate of increase beneath 2 degrees Celsius.
“Egypt has been on board with the international environmental agenda right from the beginning, but we have to work within a balance between national development objectives and international climate change commitments,” the source said.
He added that “our position is that we will honor international obligations within the scope of our national strategies.”
In Glasgow, world leaders will be discussing the sequence of adaptation, resilience, and mitigation to confront climate change.
“We are fully committed to engage, but if the world wants to be serious about action and not just plans of action, it needs to be clear about providing the required support for countries whose national budget cannot allow any added strains and whose development requirements cannot be cut down,” the government official said.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
