Cairo, 5 October 2022 (TDI): The Foreign Minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, spoke to Ahram Editor-in-Chief, Alaa Thabet, in an interview on 4 October. He said that countries must raise their aspirations if the effects of climate change are to be confronted.
Foreign Minister Shoukry, said that he hoped the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is set to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 6-18 November, would solidify pledges into practical measures on the ground.
He also said that developing countries cannot fund measures to face the climate change crisis alone, especially considering that big industrial countries are responsible for 85 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
Moreover, Shoukry spoke about the Russia-Ukraine war, affirming Egypt’s stance calling for a comprehensive political process in order to solve the crisis and stop military escalation, and pointed out that Egypt has exerted much effort in this respect.
Shoukry on climate change
Shoukry said that climate issue is an existential issue and the effect of climate change has been witnessed recently, represented in the floods that swept Pakistan and the unprecedented rise in summer temperatures in Europe and the USA.
He clarified that as soon as it was decided that Egypt will host the next climate summit, Egypt intended it to be the beginning of executing the commitments mentioned in the Paris and Glasgow conferences.
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Shoukry also said that developing countries cannot face climate change without being provided with funds to deploy modern technologies and adapt to the effects of change.
Moreover, he mentioned that developing countries in general and the African countries, in particular, have contributed no carbon emissions worth mentioning in comparison with the big industrial countries and the G20 countries, which are responsible for about 85 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
