During the Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat’s participation in theSummit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris,  as part of the Egyptian delegation headed by H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Minister participated in a session on “Private Capital  Mobilization in EMDCs” in an invitation by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG), and the COP28 UAE presidency.

The roundtable discussed priority actions and proposals related to increasing  private capital for climate investments in emerging  markets and developing countries, identifying  risk management mechanisms, financing structures and other tools to stimulate private investment, and discussing steps that governments, multilateral development banks and international financing institutions can take to expand the scope of implementable solutions.

Many representatives of governments and the international community participated in the discussion session, including United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, COP28 President Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Odile Renaud-Basso, Dr. Mark Carney from GFANZ, WBG President Ajay Banga, European Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans,

President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Jin Liqun, and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Stiell.

In her speech, the Minister highlighted the rise in the funding gap for the SDGs  in developing countries by 56% in 2020 to reach $3.9 trillion, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the exacerbation of the challenges facing development in these countries in light of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the economic effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war, especially with the rise in energy and commodity prices, renewed supply chain disruptions, high inflation rates, and fluctuations in financial markets.

The Minister referred to the "Sustainable Development Report 2022", which stresses the importance of concessional development financing as a major source of development financing in emerging and developing economies, and despite its increase over the years 2021 and 2022, the available financing is still far from the financing gap for the SDGs.  H.E. added that , the climate funds available are far less than those needed by the international community to accelerate climate action and overcome its repercussions.

Al-Mashat also spoke about Egypt’s country-led platform for the NWFE Program, a nexus of water, food and energy projects, which is an important mechanism based on state ownership with the aim of attracting climate investments to implement mitigation projects, adapt to climate changes, and promote just financing. This was emphasized and mentioned by H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the “New Mechanisms: Partnerships for Green Growth” session, pointing out that with th mention of the JETPs platforms that were launched by some countries to stimulate mitigation efforts with climate changes, the NWFE program must be addressed as a different model that promotes mitigation and adaptation efforts together, and enhances the ability of developing countries and emerging economies to catalyze climate action.

Al-Mashat referred to Egypt's efforts at COP27, by signing multiple letters of intent and memorandums of understanding with multilateral and bilateral development partners, and the joint political declaration was issued between Egypt, the United States of America and Germany, with the aim of stimulating national efforts and mobilizing funds for implementation. The program aims to mobilize investments worth $13.7 billion for projects in the water, food and energy sectors, pointing out that the coming period, and with the approach of COP28, will witness the announcement of the results of the efforts made in this regard.

Climate Capital Mobilisation Accelerator

In a related context, Al-Mashat participated in the Climate Capital Mobilization Accelerator, which is a platform between the government and private sectors aimed at addressing the main challenges that prevent the mobilization of capital for climate financing, headed by Nigel Topping, the British climate action pioneer for COP26, with the participation of representatives of several countries, international financing institutions, and civil society.

During this event, the Minister referred to the "Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook  for Just Financing", which was launched during  COP27 in  Sharm El-Sheikh, and provides a comprehensive roadmap to help developing countries attract the funds they need to implement the green transition. Through consultations with more than 100 development partners, including representatives of governments, development finance institutions, the private sector, banks, climate funds, and related parties, 12 key principles have been developed that need to be applied to catalyze climate finance, and these principles serve as a guiding framework to catalyze partnerships between all parties related sectors, especially the public and private sectors, to advance the process of transformation towards a sustainable green economy.

Al-Mashat explained that, in accordance with these principles and recommendations of the guide, the national platform for green projects, the NWFE  program, was launched, with the aim of promoting the concept of just financing, attracting climate funds to implement the National Strategy for Climate Change 2050, and implementing nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

Bilateral Meetings

The Minister held bilateral meetings with Ajay Banga, the newly elected President of the WBG, as the meeting is the first after he was officially selected as the President of the World Bank, and Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Makhtar Diop, President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), H.E. Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy and Finance, Mafalda Duarte, the Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), H.E. Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development of Canada, Ambroise Fayolle, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and  Jay Collins, Vice President, Citibank.

During the various meetings, Al-Mashat  discussed the pillars  of joint cooperation between Egypt and the multilateral and bilateral development partners, the objectives of the New Global Financing Pact in Paris, and the efforts undertaken by the Government of Egypt through cooperation with the international community to stimulate just  climate financing, and strengthen efforts mobilizing development funds for developing countries and emerging economies to support comprehensive and sustainable development efforts.