● Al-Mashat discusses mechanisms for increasing financing for adaptation and resilience and stimulating partnerships between the government and private sectors to unleash green investments.
● The “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing” enhances the ability of developing countries to access just climate finance and strengthen governance structures.
● Al-Mashat met with the Director of Development Cooperation at the OECD and applauded the organization’s effective participation in preparing the chapter on governance in the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing.”
The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, participates in the activities of the 10th edition of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Green Finance and Investment Forum in France, which is the main annual event of the organization’s Green Finance and Investment Center, as it includes policy makers and experts from various sectors institutions and representatives of the international community, to discuss the process of transition to a green and sustainable economy, through high-level sessions and bilateral meetings.
Financing Adaptation and Resilience
During the forum’s activities, the Minister participated in a high-level session on “Scaling Up Finance for Adaptation and Resilience,” along with the Chair of the Green Finance Institute, Emma Howard Boyd, Partner and Head of ESG at Meridiam Foundation, Ginette Borduas, Deputy Director for Development Cooperation at OECD, Haje Schutte, Managing Director at Pollination, Gavin Templeton and the session was moderated by the Senior Policy Analyst of OECD, Michael Mullan.
In her speech, Al-Mashat, stressed the necessity of uniting efforts to confront climate change and combat its negative effects in light of its severe risks to development, which have begun to appear significantly, adding that during Egypt’s presidency of COP27, the international community reached a historic agreement regarding the Loss and Damage fund. H.E. noted that investing in adaptation to climate change reduces the possibility that countries will be affected by climate change and be exposed to significant losses and damage due to its negative effects.
Al-Mashat indicated that expanding efforts to adapt to climate change not only provides an opportunity to confront climate change, but also achieve significant returns on investment.
Al-Mashat continued: “Despite this, the current flows directed at adapting to climate change do not match the actual needs. In addition, there is a severe disparity in the level of geographical distribution of funds, and developing countries do not obtain the financing required to achieve their climate ambitions.”
Al-Mashat stated that, in order to enhance global efforts to stimulate adaptation to climate change, its required investments have been included in the NDCs, but the real challenge is the lack of a clear and specific methodology to determine the costs and investments required to adapt to climate change, especially in light of the need of many developing countries receive financial and technical support to implement their adaptation plans.
Stimulating the Private Sector
H.E. emphasized the vital role of governments in creating a stimulating environment for the private sector to ensure the encouragement of low-carbon development paths. She also pointed to the importance of the role of multilateral development banks and philanthropic organizations, which have great potential that can be directed to enhancing climate change adaptation efforts and resilience, and providing innovative financial tools that reduce the risks of investing in these projects.
Al-Mashat concluded her speech by emphasizing the role of national platforms in promoting climate action goals, and the Egyptian experience in launching the NWFE program, which enhances the transition from pledges to implementation and stimulates climate action through mitigation and adaptation projects to climate change in the areas of water, food, and energy, to mobilize mixed financing, debt swap and development grants to implement the National Climate Change Strategy 2050.
Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing
In a related context, Al-Mashat participated in a high-level session on “Delivering Just Climate Action in Developing Countries: From Theory to Implementation,” with the participation of the Director of the Development Cooperation Department at the OECD, María del Pilar Garrido Gonzalo, Head of Strategy and Corporate Policies of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Victoria Chisala and President of Investisseurs & Partenaires, Jean-Michel Severino.
Al-Mashat presented the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing,” which Egypt launched during COP27, in partnership with more than 100 relevant parties from government agencies, the private sector, development partners, think tanks and research centers, international institutions, and investment and commercial banks. It aims to enhance the effectiveness of just climate financing efforts through cooperation with various parties in order to enhance the goals of the climate conference and move from pledges to implementation.
Al-Mashat explained that the guidebook aims to enhance the ability to access financing, both qualitatively and quantitatively, through 12 principles that were developed centered around state ownership, fair paths to climate financing, and governance structures.
H.E. noted that despite the prevailing perception that emerging economies and developing countries do not have projects that stimulate investments, the guide monitored 48 successful practices in various fields of development in developing and emerging countries, which reflects the existence of realistic models that stimulate climate investment, stressing at the same time that encouraging climate investments requires enhancing private sector confidence and creating an investment environment, especially in low- and middle-income countries and overcoming other challenges, including regulatory risks.
H.E. added that the guidebook concludes with an implementable agenda for all relevant parties, listing the role of each of them in accelerating climate action by achieving just financing. This agenda is distinguished in that it presents a realistic and implementable plan aimed at maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the current climate financing system in the short term, while rethinking the international structure in the medium and long term.
Joint relations with the OECD
In a related context, Al-Mashat met Director of the Development Cooperation Department at the OECD, María del Pilar Garrido Gonzalo and discussed joint cooperation efforts with the organization and efforts to stimulate just financing.
During the meeting, Al-Mashat applauded the efforts made by the organization in drafting the chapter on the governance structure of just climate finance in the guide, which specifies the requirements for building a strong governance mechanism at the international and national levels to enhance compliance with the principles of just financing, based on the “Principles of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation,” namely country ownership, focus on results, inclusive development partnerships, transparency and accountability.