Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin: Enhancing the role of entrepreneurs, think tanks to provide climate solutions

COP27 focuses on enhancing collective regional work through the five regional forums initiative

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin,UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, stressed the importance of the role played by non-state actors in providing solutions to advance climate action, including the business sector, entrepreneurs, investors and research centers, especially in light of developments in the political economy around the world .

The climate champion, during his virtual participation in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) session on marked- driven solutions for climate transition, explained that there is a lack of trust and an excess of crises, which requires adopting a more holistic approach that does not reduce climate action to decarbonization, but rather links climate goals with sustainable development plans.

On the other hand, the climate champion pointed out that the world today is different from what it was in 2015 when the Paris Agreement was signed in light of the consequences of the pandemic and geopolitical changes.

Mohieldin added that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has prompted many countries to invest and diversify energy sources, praising the progress made by many developing economies, including African ones, in terms of solar and wind energy, along with many important steps being taken in the file Green hydrogen.

Regarding Copenhagen’s pledge to provide $100 billion annually to support climate action in developing countries, Mohieldin stressed that this amount meets only 3 percent of the climate action needs in those countries.

During his speech, Mohieldin stressed the need to mobilize more funding from the private sector, provided that this funding is accompanied by providing the necessary technology and behavior change.

Mohieldin also noted the need to strengthen the regional dimension in order to provide the necessary solutions to the climate crisis through many partnerships with many research centers, think tanks and growing universities.

In the same context, Mohieldin explained the importance of localizing climate action so that everyone feels the fruits of this work on the ground.

Mohieldin concluded his speech by emphasizing that work with the Egyptian presidency of the climate summit begins with the launch of the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh and does not end with the summit’s convening, leading to the twenty-eighth session in the UAE.

During his participation in a webinar hosted by Commonwealth Foundation entitled “Climate Reparations: What Must COP27 Deliver?”, Mohieldin, highlighted the importance of starting immediately in dealing with losses and damages resulting from climate change, finding the best ways of their estimation, scientific solutions to handle them and the ways of implementing and financing these solutions in order to limit these losses.

Mohieldin said that COP27 prioritizes addressing climate change losses and damages as one of the main dimensions of climate action, explaining that NGOs can play a big role in this field through the estimation of climate change losses and damages in different communities, while universities and research centers can help find the scientific solutions to handle and limit them.

He stressed the necessity of involving private sector and international financing entities in financing handling losses of climate change that their cost adds tens of billions of dollars to the required finances of climate action.

“COP27 focuses on enhancing the collective regional work through the five regional forums initiative which resulted in tens of investable and applicable projects, it also focuses on localizing development and climate action through involving all local actors in planning, financing and implementing development and climate projects.” Mohieldin said.

He added that financing climate action will get a lot of attention in COP27 through discussing innovative finance instruments, debt reduction mechanisms, debt swaps for co-investing in nature, establishing carbon markets that suit priorities of developing countries and emerging markets, well-managing of ESGs according to specific criteria.

Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin: COP27 focuses on enhancing collective regional work through the five regional forums initiative