Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi headed to the United Kingdom on Sunday to take part in the World Leaders Summit at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).
The World Leaders Summit will be held on 1-2 November in Glasgow, UK.
The participation of the Egyptian president in the UN Climate Summit comes in response to the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country holds the current presidency of the COP26.
During his participation in the conference, Al-Sisi will focus on issues of concern to developing countries in general and the African countries in particular, especially concerning strengthening efforts to advance international climate action, according to the Egyptian Presidency spokesperson Bassam Rady.
Rady added that the president will also emphasise the need for industrialised countries to abide by their commitments within the framework of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Al-Sisi will also stress Egypt’s aspiration to host the next session of the Climate Change Summit next year (COP27).
The program of the president’s visit to the UK includes holding bilateral talks with the British Prime Minister to discuss strengthening bilateral relations, which have witnessed a qualitative leap in recent years. The two dies will also continue consultations and coordination on several regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The Egyptian President is also scheduled to hold a series of meetings with several heads of state and government, to discuss advancing bilateral cooperation and exchange of views on various regional and international issues.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad headed to Glasgow, UK, to participate in the high-level presidential segment of the COP26. Fouad explained that the COP26 climate conference is an important step to finalise the controversial issues to reach an action plan to achieve the desired goals in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The conference also aims to discuss topics related to mitigation, the global goal of adaptation and the goal of climate finance.
Fouad added that an Egyptian pavilion will be held within the conference, in which Egypt will present the success stories that have been made to address the effects of climate change through national projects in the sectors of renewable energy, sustainable transport, agriculture and irrigation.
Explaining the importance of the event and what it means to the host country, Samir Tantawi, Climate Change Senior Consultant and project manager of Egypt’s Fourth National Communication for UNFCCC, said that the COP is considered the largest and most important international event that the world witnesses every year.
He added that the delegations of member states to the convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement meet to discuss, consult and negotiate contentious issues within the framework of the implementation of international agreements related to climate change.
“This conference is widely known as it includes more than 5 subsidiary conferences. About 10,000 people participate in the event which includes high-level meetings in which countries are represented at the level of the head of state, the prime minister, or at least the minister concerned with environmental affairs and climate change,” said Tantawi.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations also attends the COP meetings.
In Early October, Egypt was announced as a selected country to host the upcoming COP27 in 2022. The environment-friendly city of Sharm El-Sheikh is due to host the conference.
