Egyptian MPs share their expectations for COP27 and the upcoming Climate Parliament Forum in Luxor

On 25 July, the Climate Parliament held a national parliamentary roundtable with members of the House of Representatives and Senate of Egypt. This meeting was an opportunity to discuss the MPs’ expectations for the Forum that the Climate Parliament will be organising in Luxor, and for COP27 that Egypt will be hosting in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.

The Egyptian MPs identified the strengthening of South-South cooperation as one of the key priorities for the upcoming COP. Africa is only responsible for 4% of global carbon emissions, but it includes many of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. As such, one of the main highlights of the Conference will be the focus on adaptation, to provide developing countries with solutions to become more resilient to the consequences of global warming and to prepare for its future impacts. Despite its vulnerability, Africa is also the continent that has the greatest potential for renewable energy. Located at a crossroads between Africa, Asia and Europe, Egypt has the ambition of becoming a global hub for renewable energy, and plans to reach 42% of clean energy generation by 2035. The Western Desert of Egypt offers large amounts of land that could be exploited for solar and wind power generation. The MPs emphasised that another priority of the COP should be financing, to help governments channel more private funds into pipelines of green projects.

The parliamentarians highlighted that COP27 should offer spaces to promote dialogue and share experiences not only between countries, but also with the private sector, the academia and civil society, to strengthen cooperation between all the stakeholders involved in the energy transition and facilitate the implementation of decisions. The Climate Parliament Luxor Forum, which will convene MPs, donor agencies and business leaders, will be an important step towards building new channels of cooperation and helping COP27 outcomes be implemented on the ground. The MPs expressed their wish to continue, with the help of the Climate Parliament, to exchange experiences, policy and action ideas. Our recent meetings on the Climate Change Laws passed in Nigeria and Uganda last year will help the MPs draw inspiration to draft a similar bill for Egypt.