Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait has said that the Sustainable Debt Coalition Initiative, which will be launched next September, is a strong impetus for green investments in developing countries, as it contributes effectively to addressing environmental challenges that have become one of the biggest obstacles in the process of comprehensive and sustainable development.
Maait indicated that this Initiative aims to share and discuss ways to reduce financing burdens in order to accelerate steps to combat climate change, as the establishment of a common framework for regulating sustainable debt transactions contributes to coordinating international efforts to advance the path of environmental action, by launching a new path of consultations at the intersection of Debt, Climate, and Development aims to serve the interests of all stakeholders.
The Egyptian Minister of Finance added, at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, that Egypt is looking forward, through the Sustainable Debt Coalition Initiative, to find innovative solutions to confront the high costs of debt servicing in light of the global economic crises, and is also looking forward to agreeing on new, more stimulating mechanisms to provide supportive fiscal space for the environmental course of action, without causing any disturbances in the international financial market, in a way that contributes to strengthening international cooperation.
Maait stressed that the difficult financial situation of emerging economies, including the increasing costs of debt and the decline in international aid, creates challenges for development efforts and combating climate change, which requires the provision of appropriate financing for these developing countries to increase their ability to face high rates of public debt and other crises.
Egypt’s Finance Minister indicated that the financial space has become very narrow in developing countries, and that climate shocks impose severe pressures, in light of difficult global challenges, in which the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic and war in Europe are intertwined with the negative effects of climate change, explaining that concessional financing ensures the acceleration of clean investment in energy and fewer climate emissions in the African continent, in a way that helps developing economies to invest in infrastructure and achieve sustainable growth in various fields.
