● $1 billion dollars in financing, grants and guarantees provided by the United Kingdom to the government and private sectors in Egypt to support climate action.
The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat witnessed the “Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) Second Cohort Graduation for 9 startup companies. This is implemented in cooperation between the British Embassy in Egypt and the Flat6Labs business incubator, within the framework of the international partnership between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United Kingdom, which aims to provide £10 million worth of technical assistance to 10 countries to support climate action start-ups.
In her virtual speech, the Minister said that today we are witnessing the graduation of the second batch of the CFA unlocks the beginning of a new phase of work to confront climate change, through innovative solutions in the sectors of agriculture, energy, transportation, industry, waste management, and gender equality.
Al-Mashat explained that Egypt is working to encourage innovative solutions that contribute to strengthening the response to climate change and encouraging modern technologies in this field, noting the importance of the efforts undertaken by developing countries and emerging economies in cooperation with development partners, especially at the level of capacity building and technical support to enhance efforts to reduce emissions.
H.E. stated that the CFA launched by Egypt, represents a unique model of cooperation in order to advance climate action, which has become more urgent than ever before, and encourages the transition from pledges to implementation.
H.E. stated that Egypt is working to implement many projects in partnership with the private sector to enhance the green transformation and implement nationally determined contributions, within the framework of its commitment to the principles of the Paris Climate Agreement, noting that the COP27 climate conference witnessed the launch of the national platform for the “NWFE” program, the nexus of water, food and energy, which includes 9 priority projects in the areas of mitigation and adaptation under the umbrella of the National Climate Change Strategy.
She noted that the Ministry of International Cooperation continues to coordinate joint efforts with development partners in order to provide the necessary investments for these projects, and the United Kingdom is contributing to financing the energy pillar through a grant worth $7 million and technical support.
She added that the United Kingdom has a close partnership with the government and private sectors in Egypt to support climate action, as it provides financing, grants, investment guarantees and technical assistance worth $1 billion for projects in the energy, water, food and other sectors.
Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the Ministry of International Cooperation, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, has launched the global “ClimaTech Run”, for startups working within the field of climate action and technology. The ClimaTech Run is a competition addressing startups from around the world, and digital artists, aiming to increase the role they can play in raising awareness on climate change, and also establishing innovative and sustainable solutions for climate action, with two main tracks: startups working in the field of climate technology in the ICT for Climate Action Track, and digital art in the DigitalArt4Climate Track. The competition has been launched for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023 during COP27 and 28.
The Minister stressed the commitment to working together towards enhancing partnerships to tackle climate change and respond effectively to this global challenge which involves a massive transformation in financial markets. Financing represents the cornerstone for the implementation of countries’ national pledges to support what is allocated from the budget and public resources of the state, taking into account the centrality of financing and international cooperation for the implementation of renewable energy projects, adaptation projects and green transformation measures, with the need to focus on both capacity development and technology transfer, which are the implementation mechanisms agreed upon in the Paris Agreement.
It is worth noting that last June, 8 startup companies graduated from the Climate Finance Accelerator, in the fields of energy, blue economy, manufacturing, circular economy, agriculture, land use, and waste management.