This year, the UNFCCC organised its first-ever MENA Climate Week. A regional conference aimed at looking into region-specific challenges stemming from nations’ commitments to decarbonisation, and their ambitions on mitigating and adapting to climate change consequences.
Liberal International was invited to host a side event on the premises of climate week. The focus of LI’s online panel was From COP26 commitments to COP27 opportunities: the MENA perspective. Inspired by the work of its Climate Justice Committee and their Climate Justice Principles, this panel examined the specific lessons learned dating back to COP21, the increase of ambitions that COP26 brought, as well as upcoming plans and opportunities for Egypt’s COP27.
During the panel, the speakers agreed that the upcoming COP27 will be of great importance to raise awareness on the urgency of decent funding for adaptation to be provided to the MENA region. The timeframe is quite short for this, as underlined by the latest IPCC report, and it should be an utmost priority.
Current Minister for International Development of Egypt, H.E. Rania Al-Mashat, outlined the three main principles of the upcoming COP27 presided by Egypt, namely: 1) an impartial and transparent COP27; 2) a focus on adaptation and resilience, and 3) a focus on pledges and commitments of action. She also emphasised the importance of ensuring there are synergies built with the UN Sustainable Goals, and introduced a new stakeholder of focus for the COP27 presidency, namely philanthropies and philanthropists.
Minister for Climate and Environment of Norway (2020-2021), Mr. Sveinung Rotevatn MP, emphasised the good progress made at COP26, outlining that despite being swiped by a pandemic, it is outstanding that the world has still kept focus on the climate emergency. He has further added Norway has committed to double its funding for adaptation and resilience, and they will keep the government accountable to that.
French Ambassador & Special Envoy for COP21 (2015), Mr. Stéphane Gompertz finished by sharing his experience and lessons learned from COP21, outlining the urgency of the matter.
You can find the live panel broadcasted here:
