The Minister of Environment: Adaptation is a priority for the African Continent and we seek to achieve a balance between mitigation and adaptation.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, met with Mr. Ambroa Faioli, Vice President of the European Investment Bank for Climate and Development, to exchange visions and discuss Egypt’s roadmap for hosting the UNFCCC COP27 that will take place in Sharm El Sheikh next year.
Dr. Yasmine stressed that the issue of adaptation is a priority for the African continent. Additionally the cooperation in the field of industry is still a priority – taking into consideration Egypt’s previous experience, in developing Environmental Impact Assessment Studies and implementing an Egyptian Industrial Pollution Abetment Programme – which is an important mechanism for cooperation to maintain a balance between mitigation and adaptation measures.
The Vice President of the Bank stressed on the adaptation is important not only for the African continent but for Europe as well. This requires more work on confronting measures. Therefore, the Bank seeks to increase the size of its adaptation projects by 2025, with greater inclusion of the adaptation dimension in mitigation projects. He states “we aim to reach 50% of our investment in climate action to be in adaptation”.
The Minister of Environment got acquainted with the form of support that the Bank can provide to countries in adaptation related projects. To this end, the Vice President of the Bank indicated their adoption of a platform that provides the necessary technical support and infrastructure for climate-related projects. One of the most important mechanisms of the Bank’s work is to provide global support to countries in facing the effects of climate change, including Africa, through cooperation with the African Development Bank and the Global Center for Adaptation, and support for countries’ national plans. The EIB expressed their willingness to support the development of the action plan for the national strategy for climate change in Egypt, which was launched recently at the UNFCCC COP 26.
The two parties also discussed ways of cooperation to support Egypt’s presidency of the UNFCCC COP27, whether in technical issues such as industry and adaptation, or support for organizing and implementing side events such as the Youth Forum, where the EIB confirmed that the form of support will be determined based on what the Egyptian priorities.
