Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed confidence in the leadership of the United Arab Emirates and President-designate Sultan Al-Jaber to achieve a balanced, effective, and ambitious package of decisions on climate change at the upcoming COP28 conference.
In a virtual address to the opening session of the preparatory Ministerial Conference of the conference of the states parties to the pre-COP28 climate change agreement, Shoukry stressed the critical need for collective agreement on decisive steps for a comprehensive, fair, and effective deal with climate change.
He highlighted the region’s commitment to actively engage and lead the relevant multilateral negotiations by hosting two climate conferences twice in a row. He also noted his focus on the guiding principles of climate justice, implementation, and effective action during his presidency of the 27th session of the conference.
Shoukry stressed that the issue of losses and damages is among the most pressing issues at COP28. He expressed frustration at the inability to reach an agreement on this issue during the last transitional committee meeting in Aswan, given the great repercussions of climate change on developing countries.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister expressed hope that the next meeting in Abu Dhabi will result in a desired agreement and urged all parties to take advantage of the opportunity.
Shoukry also pointed out that a number of goals of the Paris Agreement, such as reducing emissions and supporting adaptation and resilience building in the face of climate change, have not been achieved. He asserted the need to provide developing countries with the means of implementation through appropriate technology and financial resources to help them implement their Nationally Determined Contributions.
He urged all parties to harness the necessary political will to fulfil pledges and commitments and provide the necessary funding for developing countries to deal with the existential threat of climate change.
Egypt’s FM also called on developed countries to avoid reneging on previous commitments and not to adopt unilateral measures, whether through incentives or taxes, that restrict fair competition and undermine multilateral action.
