Mohieldin: Promising Opportunities to Invest in Climate Action in Middle East, North Africa

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, said that the Middle East and North Africa region has promising opportunities and resources, making it a good starting point towards enhancing investments in climate action and achieving just transition in various sectors in a way that contributes to the economic growth of the region countries.

This came during his participation in a session entitled "Advancing Positive Climate Policies in the Middle East and North Africa" within the activities of the "Accelerating Green Investments in the Middle East and North Africa" conference organized by the Regional Council of American Chambers of Commerce in the Middle East and North Africa, with the participation of Ambassador Daniel Rubinstein, Acting US Ambassador to Cairo, Tarek Tawfik, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo and Chairman of the Regional Council of the American Chambers of Commerce in the Middle East and North Africa, Sarah El Battouty, United Nations Ambassador for Climate Change, and Marty Durbin, Senior Vice President of Policy and the President of Global Energy Institute at AmCham, and a number of heads of major companies and heads of the American chambers of commerce in the region.

Mohieldin stated that countries in the Middle East and North Africa share the same challenges of climate change such as water poverty, desertification and sea level rise, have vast renewable energy resources such as solar and wind and have great ambitions regarding green hydrogen, adding that the countries of the region have a strong will to make them move effectively towards implementing climate action according to a holistic approach that balances between the different aspects of climate action, but they need more cooperation from developed countries and international organizations with regard to knowledge sharing, financing projects and building capacities.

Mohieldin added that Egypt, for example, has promising projects in the energy sector such as wind power plants in Zafarana and the solar power plant in Benban in the south of the country, in addition to a number of distinguished projects in different sectors thanks to good management, combining technological solutions and cooperation with international development partners, pointing out that Egypt presented a model to enhance the local dimension of climate action through the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, which contributed to raising awareness of climate issues and drew an investment map in all governorates.

Mohieldin reviewed the most prominent results of COP27, explaining that Egypt organized a successful climate conference despite the great challenges and crises experienced by the whole world, adding that the conference made important outputs, most notably the establishment of a loss and damage fund, the launch of the Sharm el-Sheikh adaptation agenda and demanding reform of the global financing system to serve climate goals, while maintaining emission reduction pledges.

The climate champion expressed confidence in the UAE's ability to organize a successful climate conference based on the results of the Sharm el-Sheikh conference in view of the UAE's adoption of a comprehensive approach that balances the different dimensions of climate action and links them to other sustainable development goals.

Mohieldin explained that climate action in general needs the concerted efforts of governments, civil society and the business sector, which is enjoyed by climate action initiatives in many countries in the region, in Africa and developing countries in general, in this regard, he referred to the African Carbon Markets Initiative, which receives great attention from African governments and the active participation of the private sector, making it a promising opportunity to invest in climate action in Africa.

The climate champion stated that enhancing the international effort in the face of climate change requires developed countries to expand the funding and implementation of climate projects to different regions of the world, with balanced attention to various areas of climate action, explaining that reducing emissions, adapting to climate change and dealing with the loss and damage caused by this phenomenon are equally important lines of defense against climate change.

Mohieldin pointed to what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed about the need for the world to redouble efforts to halve emissions by 2030, strengthen cooperation to create a more climate-resilient environment and deal seriously with the loss and damage caused by climate change.

He said that achieving the goal of reducing emissions is possible if there is real will and conscious leadership from governments and various organizations to optimize the use of technological solutions and direct financing to the most deserving climate action areas.

In this context, Mohieldin explained that financing development and climate action is insufficient, inefficient, unfair and unbalanced, stressing that overcoming the financing crisis needs to reduce dependence on debt, swap debt for investment in nature and climate, and enhance the participation of the private sector in various dimensions of climate action in accordance with the standards of governance of environmental and social practices of companies to overcome the phenomenon of green washing, in addition to activating the role of international financial institutions and multilateral development banks in redirecting finance towards different dimensions of climate action in a balanced way.

Mohieldin praised the initiatives launched by Egypt to strengthen the local and regional dimensions of climate action, such as the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, which included six categories of projects, namely large-scale projects, medium projects, small local projects, especially associated with the Decent Life Initiative, projects submitted by startups, development projects related to women, climate change and sustainability, and non-profit community initiatives and participation, adding that the initiative aimed at involving all local actors in development and climate action.

He also noted the Five Regional Roundtables Initiative launched by the Egyptian presidency of COP27 in collaboration with the United Nations regional economic commissions and the Climate Champions Team, which resulted in dozens of regional projects worldwide, which in their entirety covered the various dimensions of climate action.

Mohieldin stressed the need for the international community to pay attention to middle-income countries, medium-sized enterprises, and middle social groups, calling on financing institutions to adopt criteria for grants and soft loans, including setting an interest rate not exceeding 1% with long-term repayment and grace periods, explaining that middle-income countries should benefit from these grants and soft loans as well as the low-income countries.