Al Mashat Urges Participation of Youth, Women for Inclusive Climate Action

Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, participated in the first-ever Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week held from 28 to 31 March 2022 in Dubai, where she urged for inclusive climate action that includes the participation of women and girls, and to establish a framework to accelerate and rethink development financing for climate.

As part of the high-level segment, the Minister participated in a closed Ministerial Roundtable co-chaired by the Minister of Climate Change and Environment (UAE), HE Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri and by the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, Patricia Espinosa.

The roundtable aimed to provide an opportunity for Ministers to share their views on the current status of negotiations, and their efforts and expectations in moving to implementation of the Glasgow Climate Pact and expectations for COP27 in Egypt in November 2022.

The minister noted climate justice cannot be achieved without climate financing, and that financing represents the cornerstone for the implementation of countries’ national pledges to support what is allocated from the budget and public resources of the state, taking into account the centrality of financing and international cooperation for the implementation of renewable energy projects, adaptation projects and green transformation measures.

During a virtual meeting with the World Bank, H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat noted that scaling up climate action requires development banks to strengthen development banks’ mandates to deliver transformative climate action, bring new sources of innovative finance, and use concessional finance to enable development banks to drive the transformation.

The Minister also participated in the side session, “From COP 26 Glasgow Commitments to COP 27 Egypt Opportunities: The MENA perspective” by Liberal International, which explored how COP27 can provide a unique opportunity to devise new strategies that will prioritize the MENA region, including increased investments in adaptation.

The session was attended by Stephane Gompretz, former French Ambassador and Special Envoy for COP21, Sveinung Rotevatn, former minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, and Hakima El Haite, President Liberal International and UN climate champion.

Increasing meaningful youth participation in policy and decision-making processes in Africa is crucial to ensuring more ambitious climate action, which is a key message that the Minister shared during her participation in the panel session ‘Youth Action and Gender-Sensitive’ organized by the UNFCCC, World Green Economy Organization (WGEO), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for West Asia (UNEP-ROWA).

In her speech, the Minister noted that youth are one of the most vulnerable groups affected by the repercussions of climate change, particularly those working in the agricultural sector. She called for an urgent need to build youth’s capacities through technical support, raising awareness, boosting digital skills, and increasing their participation in the decision-making process, as they are powerful agents of change.

The Minister added that despite global efforts to achieve sustainable development, gender gaps and low youth participation still persist, which is one of the main challenges inhibiting the pace of achieving sustainable development. Taking concrete steps through the principles of communication for development (C4D), the Ministry is keen to eliminate these disparities to positively reflect on the progress of countries towards achieving sustainable development goals and combating climate change.