Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, said that the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects (NISGP) represents unprecedented practical approach to find and apply climate & development solutions domestically.
This came during his participation in the session “Engaging Youth in Sustainability Localization through the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects”, within the activities of COP28 in Dubai, with the participation of Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Alia Al Sharif, Head of the Central Sector for Planning and International Cooperation of the Enterprise Development Agency, and Engineer Khalid Mustafa, Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.
Mohieldin said that the initiative contributed over two years to raising awareness of climate and development issues, and drew an investment map in all governorates through thousands of projects of a variety of size, and created a state of partnership between the Egyptian government, the private sector, civil society and regional and international development partners.
He added that the initiative aimed to involve youth in climate and development action, build bridges between different generations, and identify the ideas of youth to achieve climate and development goals.
In a related context, Mohieldin participated in the session “National Initiative for Smart Green Projects in Egypt: A Unique Model for Localizing Climate Action”, with the participation of Ambassador Hisham Badr, Assistant Minister of Planning and Economic Development for Strategic Partnerships, Excellence and Initiatives and General Coordinator of the initiative, and Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt.
The climate champion said that the initiative created a state of competition to find the best projects that meet environmental, technological and sustainability standards, which contributes to finding environmental, climate and development solutions and implementing the transition to a green economy.
He explained that the initiative aims in the next stage to strengthen partnerships at the regional and international levels in order to support the initiative and contribute to make it beneficial for other countries, adding that regional and international organizations have expressed their readiness to support the projects revealed by the initiative, and to cooperate to develop the initiative in the future.
