Mahmoud Mohieldin — Egypt's High-Level Climate Change Champion at the UN — stressed on Monday that the five recently held regional forums and their resulting projects are an actual translation of the Egyptian presidency's vision for the upcoming COP27, which will focus on implementation and practical application. Mohieldin made his remarks during the opening session of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Forum for Climate Action being held in Geneva by Egypt's presidency of the 27th UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The climate champion added that the work plan from now until the climate summit includes preparation of a summary of 50 projects selected for presentation at the COP27 in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, with ten projects for each region. Meanwhile, another 100 promising projects will be presented through the official websites of the conference and other high-level climate champions. Mohieldin also recommended that all regional economic commissions share data on these projects, in addition to submitting a recommendation to the Egyptian presidency of the COP27 to share such data. Furthermore, he noted that a number of these projects will be supported by the $130-trillion-Glasgow Race to Zero Alliance (GFANZ). In the same context, Mohieldin affirmed the commitment of the climate champions to support these projects through the participation of investors, multilateral development banks, and all stakeholders. He also pointed out that the climate champions' agenda will constitute a number of events that will kick off on the third day of the COP27. Additionally, he highlighted the importance of the five recently held regional forums, which discussed sustainable management, data transparency, and climate transition, in addition to coming up with a number of good and specific recommendations. Mohieldin added that the projects that came out of these forums will be followed up on by the relevant investment banks, which have expressed interest in exploring more projects. He also expressed his happiness that there are some good indications regarding some projects and linking them to appropriate funding, and this is one of the main objectives of these regional forums. Moreover, he indicated that these regional forums were able to meet the expectations of the investment community and the private sector, noting that these projects were on the agenda of the last meeting of the GFANZ Africa Network. Furthermore, Mohieldin stressed that the implementation and operation of these projects will be followed up on after the COP27 to ensure that they continue on the right track. The climate champion concluded his speech by thanking the secretary-general of the UN, as well as the various governments and ministries that were keen to participate in regional forums and choose appropriate projects. This event was the fifth regional forum held ahead of the COP27, which is slated to be held between 6 to 18 November in Sharm El-Sheikh. The previous roundtables were held in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, and Beirut. The roundtables were held with the aim of enhancing the regional dimension of climate action, finding the best applicable, bankable, and investable projects and mobilising sufficient finance for them.
