When Egypt hosts the COP27 climate summit this week it will be hoping for an injection of international legitimacy as well as green financing at a time when its economy has been struggling and it has faced rising criticism over human rights.
"We hope that it will be a watershed moment", Wael Aboulmagd, a veteran Egyptian diplomat and special representative for COP27, told reporters on Friday, noting that science shows the world lagging behind on every aspect of the fight against climate change.
"We aim to restore the 'grand bargain' ... whereby developing countries agreed to increase their efforts to tackle a crisis for which they are far less responsible, in return for appropriate financial support and other means of implementation," COP27 president-designate, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, wrote in a letter to parties and observers at the summit.
In an updated submission to the United Nations this year, Egypt said it faced a $246 billion funding shortfall to meet its 2030 climate targets. It is hoping to sign a flurry of deals including for green hydrogen power and solar and wind projects timed to coincide with COP27. Some in Egypt express surprise that the government would host such a conference, given the low profile of environmentalism and restrictions on civic activism.
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