Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly delivered a speech on Tuesday at the forum organized by the US Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.
He stressed that Egypt is committed to working comprehensively with all parties, including the US, to reinforce the outcomes of the Glasgow Climate Change Conference – also referred to as COP 26 – and move towards bridging gaps at all levels, including mitigation, adaptation, and financing.
During his speech, Madbouly thanked the AmCham Egypt for holding this discussion at an important time as Egypt is preparing to host the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) next November.
The Prime Minister indicated that Egypt intends to use COP 27 to enhance partnership between the public and private sectors, sustainability, and the transition towards a green economy. He pointed out that there is huge potential for cooperation between Egypt and the United States in these areas, looking forward to building an ongoing partnership in this regard during the coming period.
In this context, Madbouly reviewed some of the government’s recent efforts in that regard, pointing out that they have greatly contributed to developing an empowering environment for the private sector in various sectors, which included policy reform, introducing new laws and legislation, amending existing regulations, implementing a set of procedures, applying the Environmental Investment Plan 2021-2022, to reach a 100% green investment budget by 2030, in addition to issuing the first ever green sovereign bonds in the Middle East and North Africa for a value of $750m, to provide new and innovative tools for financing green projects in the areas of management Waste, clean transportation, renewable energy, etc.
He added that the Waste Management Regulation Law No. 202 of 2020 was also issued. It includes incentives to attract the private sector to invest in solid waste management, and provides it with all the benefits, exemptions and guarantees granted under Investment Law No. 72 of 2017. Cooperation is also taking place with the banking sector to popularize the climate and environment files in banking policies and strategies. And to that end, many banks have established units dedicated to dealing with green finance, financing projects related to environmental protection, and addressing climate change.
“All these measures represent only some of the efforts made by the government in the past few years. We look forward to further cooperation with the American private sector to embody these ambitious policies in projects and programs that will contribute to achieving sustainable development at the same time we deal with climate change,” Madbouly said.
The Prime Minister indicated that even though Egypt contributes less than 1% of global emissions, it gives great importance to combating climate change, and therefore, was excited to assume the responsibility of hosting COP 27, and leading the global momentum in combating climate change.
Madbouly expressed his hope that this discussion would contribute to realizing the mutual benefits that Egypt and the US seek to achieve by working together to tackle climate change and encourage more green economy and environmentally friendly investments in Egypt. He called on participants to identify promising areas and challenges, as well as innovative solutions.
Finally, Madbouly stressed the need to quickly take action by working together to better confront climate change, and provide a good and feasible model for public-private partnership in conjunction with the preparations for COP 27.
