Egypt held a number of consultative meetings with a host of international partners over the past week concerning the preparations for the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27), slated for November in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
This included the first meeting of the newly launched joint working group between Egypt and the US to prepare for the UN climate change summit, said a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.
The Egyptian-US meeting addressed a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues of common interest related to the climate change conference's agenda, the statement added.
the US president's special envoy for climate John Kerry, who paid a two-day visit to Cairo, and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry – the COP27 president-designate – launched the US-Egypt climate-working group to advance bilateral and multilateral climate goals ahead of COP27.
The Egyptian side also held consultative meetings with officials of the COP26 conference – held in Glasgow in November 2021 – in preparation for handing over the presidency's responsibilities to Egypt.
Other meetings were also held with Selwyn Hart, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser and Assistant for Climate Action, and the UAE Special Envoy's team for Climate Change.
The meetings, according to the statement, tackled opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the areas of climate and environment, including renewable clean energy, with the participation of representatives of the country's ministries of environment, electricity and renewable energy, planning and economic development, international cooperation, trade and industry.
President El-Sisi stressed that the COP27 summit will support efforts to reduce emissions and provide funding for developing countries to deal with climate change.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
