Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP27 President-Designate, Sameh Shoukry, on Thursday said his country was ready to host world leaders, delegates and climate stakeholders under the banner of “Together for Implementation”.
Shoukry’s statement follows an on-site review of preparations for COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt where the flagship environmental conference will be held early next month.
COP27 known as Africa’s COP gets underway on November 6 including a World Leaders Summit on November 7 and 8.
It is expected to be among the largest gatherings of climate stakeholders ever hosted at a COP with over 30,000 delegates registered to attend.
Speaking about the conference preparations, Shoukry said: “The Egyptian COP27 Presidency is ready to host the world climate community in Sharm El Sheikh this November. As COP27 Presidency we are doing our utmost to create a conducive environment for successful negotiations and ambitious, credible and concrete outcomes.
We will set the scene in which we hope that all state and non-state actors will come together with a collaborative and constructive mindset to deliver on climate action. I’m confident that the international community will rise to the occasion and ensure a successful and impactful COP27. We will continue to urge the international community to take the transformative decisions needed to respond to the gravity of the climate emergency we live” the Egyptian official said.
Shoukry also toured the site earlier this week meeting with UNFCCC and COP27 Presidency Team officials to oversee the final touches at the site ahead of the conference.
Billed the Conference of Parties, it is an annual conference on climate change hosted by the United Nations.
It is expected that government and business leaders will once again converge to discuss and reiterate their commitment to reducing global temperatures.
COP 27 is described as Africa’s COP and promises to offer the opportunity to articulate Africa’s priorities for building transformative adaptation, limiting emissions rise, accessing appropriate finance and addressing loss and damage.
Estimates show that Africa today loses between $7 billion and $15 billion a year to climate change despite being the lowest emitter.
CU/as/APA