Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry has said that work must be done to reduce emissions and provide financing programmes in this regard.
He added, during a joint press conference marking the conclusion of the Copenhagen Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change, on Tuesday, that there are ambitious goals for climate action that reflect the magnitude of this crisis, stressing the importance of raising the level of ambition so that the goals have an impact.
He added that Luxor will host this year a conference for the sake of losses and damages, in addition to discussing the results of the Sharm El-Sheik conference and the difficulties that threatened the international community in this regard.
There is still work to be done before the next climate summit takes place in the UAE, he said, with ambitious actions to be taken in response to science under a shared responsibility under the Paris Agreement.
He pointed out that these goals are being handled in accordance with national capabilities, stressing that no one can speak for anyone.
Shoukry noted that the world has a great opportunity at the moment to face the effects of climate change.
Earlier on Tuesday,Minister Shoukry met with Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, during his current visit to Copenhagen, in the framework of exploring new horizons for cooperation between Egypt and the Council.
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Minister Shoukry expressed his aspiration to launch a communication process and to establish a cooperation mechanism with the Council in light of the friendly and traditional relations between Egypt and the Nordic countries, and the common desire to develop them and to explore the great and promising opportunities.
This is similar to the success stories of existing mechanisms for trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece, as well as the mechanism of cooperation between Egypt and the Visegrad Community.
Shoukry also expressed Egypt’s interest in strengthening economic cooperation with the Nordic countries and building on the success stories of Danish and Norwegian companies in Egypt, especially in the area of green transition.
The meeting also tackled a number of issues related to climate change and environmental protection, with Shoukry reviewing Egyptian efforts and initiatives in this regard.
For her part, the Secretary-General was keen to hear the foreign minister, s assessment of the course of the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial Meeting.
She also praised the efforts of the Egyptian presidency of the COP27 Conference in the success of the conference, which was reflected in its outcomes, the most important of which was the agreement to establish a fund to finance efforts to address the losses and damages of climate change, the adoption of a new program of action on mitigating the repercussions of climate change, and the adoption of an action plan on the fair transfer of energy.
Eliman stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and achieving a qualitative leap in relations between the Nordic Council countries and Egypt, and looked forward to advancing various aspects of bilateral relations with Egypt as a pivotal partner in the Middle East
