Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry — the President-Designate of the COP27 — participated on Tuesday in a forum of countries most affected by the consequences of climate change chaired by Ghana on the side-lines of a preparatory meeting in Kinshasa for the COP27. According to a statement by the ministry, in a speech, Shoukry highlighted how Africa is the most affected by the consequences of climate change and the challenges it faces in that regard despite being the least contributor to the causes that led to the current global climate challenges. In this context, Shoukry presented some of the imbalances in the response to the challenges of climate change, as the majority of funding sources are directed to deal with emissions reduction, in contrast to the meagre funding directed to dealing with issues of climate mitigation, adaptation, resilience, losses, and damage caused by global warming. This is in addition to the small amount of funding provided to developing countries in the form of grants, which is estimated at only 6% of the total funding, while the vast majority of funding is provided in the form of loans, which exacerbates the burden on developing countries despite their almost non-existent contribution to the causes of climate change. In his interventions at the forum, the foreign minister stressed the need for all parties to deal with these challenges in a way that ensures correcting the imbalance in order to ensure emissions reduction, achieve food and water security along with finance fairness, and move towards clean energy. He also stressed the need to renew the nationally determined contributions to strengthen the climate mitigation action plan for the upcoming UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) and fulfil the pledges that were doubled in the COP26 to make progress towards the global adaptation goal. Furthermore, Shoukry reviewed the work programme of the leaders' summit and the various round tables that will allow direct interaction between leaders on a number of topics. He also reviewed the thematic days, as well as initiatives, that will include many issues, including food security, water security, providing a decent life in Africa, waste management, and equitable energy transition, while inviting the member states of the forum to join these initiatives and benefit from them.
