Al Mashat Says Int'l Co-op Is Vital to Enhance Climate Financing Infrastructure

On Sunday, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat reiterated at the HSBC Climate Event that international cooperation is critical to ensure that countries put their pledges into action and capitalize on the benefits that flow from these investments.

Centered around the promotion of sustainable private investment, the event saw the participation of Stephen Moss, Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, and Todd Wilcox, Deputy Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), along with more than 130 representatives of private sector companies.

In her remarks, the Minister pointed out that, according to a 2021 report by the Climate Policy Initiative, 90% of climate finance - for the period 2019-2020 - were directed to mitigation projects, yet only 7% were directed to adaptation projects, particularly in water infrastructure.

Highlighting the need to restructure the global climate financing architecture, the Minister added that the Middle East and North Africa region also received only about $16 billion of climate financing, while the African continent was one of the least receiving regions with only 5.5% of the total finance.

To provide decisive progress of the policies that are implemented to combat climate change, the Minister added that Egypt announced its National Climate Change Strategy, which has five main goals: achieving sustainable economic growth and reducing carbon emissions, enhancing resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change, enhancing governance and management, enhancing climate financing infrastructure, and enhancing scientific research.

The Minister added that Egypt has been addressing the food-energy-water nexus to achieve comprehensive development. ​​Since 2014, Egypt has expanded its investments in the national project of silos, which aims to build 50 grains and wheat storage silos across 17 governorates. This national project raised the storage capacity from 1.2 million tonnes to 3.4 million tons over a period between 2014 and 2018. The Minister added that 50% of Egypt’s consumed wheat is locally produced, as Egypt has been able to achieve self-sufficiency through cultivating 3.7 million acres with wheat, producing 9.5 to 10 million tons.

Bahr El-Baqar wastewater treatment plant improves water distribution and access for several governorates across the country, from South Cairo, passing through Qalyubia, Sharkia, Ismailia, Dakahlia, and Port Said. It consists of four water treatment lines with a daily processing capacity of 1,250,000 cubic meters each, and contributes to developing 400,000 feddans and 100,000 job opportunities that can help sustain families.

For his part, Stephen Moss, Regional Chief Executive of HSBC in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey said: “Leading the transition to net zero is a pillar of our ambitions and strategy globally, so we’re mobilising finance to support our customers’ transitions, accelerating innovation to help scale up climate change solutions, and building global partnerships to ensure investment is swiftly channelled towards truly sustainable projects.”

“We are committed to working with our customers across Egypt, who are all at different stages of their sustainability journey. We are supporting them in articulating the challenge, understanding the solutions, and then working with them as partners to make change happen,” he added.