Mahmoud Mohieldin — Egypt's High-Level Climate Change Champion at the UN — stressed that the five regional forums and the resulting projects are an actual translation of the Egyptian presidency's vision for the upcoming UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27). He stressed that the COP27 is being designed with implementation in mind instead of the usual pledge-making. Mohiedin made his remarks during the recent opening session of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Forum for Climate Action held in Geneva by Egypt's presidency of the COP27 and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The climate champion added that the work plan from now until the climate summit includes the 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 the climate champions. The climate champion also recommended that all regional economic commissions share data on these projects, in addition to submitting a recommendation to the Egyptian Presidency of the Climate Summit to share such data. Mohieldin also 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 starting from the third day of the COP27. Furthermore, Mohieldin highlighted the importance of convening these five regional forums, which discussed sustainable management, data transparency, and climate transition, in addition to coming up with a number of good and specific recommendations. He added that these projects will be followed up with the relevant investment banks, which have expressed interest in exploring more projects, expressing his happiness that there are some good indications regarding some projects and linking them to appropriate funding, as this is one of the main objectives of these regional forums. Mohieldin also 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. He 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. Mohieldin 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 the regional forums and choose appropriate projects. This was the fifth regional forum in the lead up to the COP27, which is slated to be held from 6 to 18 November in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh.
