In light of its presidency of COP27 that will take place in Sharm El Sheikh next November, COP27 Egyptian presidency announced the launching of unprecedented initiative to enhance investments in different climate action sectors through putting climate projects, investors, companies, international financing entities, development banks and other stakeholders on one table with the aim of starting actual implementation of projects that help achieving climate action goals.
The Egyptian initiative includes holding five major regional roundtables, the first of them will take place in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as the home of the UN regional economic committee for Africa on August 2-4, Bangkok, the home of the UN regional economic committee for Asia-Pacific will host the second roundtable on August 25th, Santiago, home of the UN regional economic committee for LAC, will host the third roundtable on September 1-2, Beirut, home of ESCWA, will host the Arab world roundtable on September 15th, while Geneva, home of UN regional economic committee for Europe, will host the last roundtable on September 20th, the outcomes of the five meetings will be announced during COP27.
Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt, said that the initiative aims to discuss investment opportunities in the sectors of food, water, irrigation systems development, increasing agricultural productivity, new and renewable sources of energy and its infrastructure, and the digital transitioning of those sectors in a way that helps in implementing climate projects on the ground and, therefore, achieving climate goals and providing job opportunities in the countries of the five regions.
Mohieldin clarified that the first roundtable will take place in Addis Ababa under the title of "Towards COP27: African Regional Forum on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the SDGs", with high-level Egyptian participation where Mr. Ambassador Sameh Shokri, Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP27 President Designate, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Dr. Rania Almashat, Minister of International Cooperation, and Dr. Mohamed Farid, EGX Chairman, will participate in the activities of the forum, alongside many African ministers, UN officials, businessmen, investors, representatives of international financing entities and development banks from inside and outside Africa.
The forum includes many sessions that will discuss financial vehicles for just transition finance, upscaling investment in adaptation, ecosystem-based approaches and disaster risk reduction loss and damage, Green Business matchmaking in Africa, and Private Sector networking for climate action.
The forum agenda contains six roundtables that address energy access and just energy transition and transport, food security, climate-smart agriculture, and building resilience and ecosystem-based approaches, digital transformation, the development of African carbon credit markets, and the Blue Economy and supporting water access for different cities.
The forum aims to catalyse climate finance and investment flows towards building climate resilience in Africa as well as advancing Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda, finding climate and economic nature-based solutions that help achieving SDGs in Africa, get the most benefit of Africa carbon credits, tackle key barriers precluding large scale debt swaps, enhance collaboration between public and private stakeholders and different countries to improve risk management.
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