Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, participated today in the event "Accelerating the Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through Sovereign Funds", which was held within the activities of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2022, COP27, which Hosted by Egypt in Sharm El Sheikh.

Al-Saeed stressed the critical importance of the climate situation and the seriousness of the challenges being faced, which are reflected in the difficult effects of climate change on future generations, adding that the commitments announced by countries, including goals conditioned on the availability of international financing, would reduce emissions by only 10% by the year 2030, explaining that this percentage is far from the path that scientists show that 45% of the cuts are necessary to keep 1.5 degrees of temperature within reach, indicating the need for investments of at least 4 to 6 trillion dollars to overcome this challenge and decarbonize the economy. He explained that if this funding is not mobilized, this ambition will not be achieved
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Al-Saeed added that financing the transition to green energy is a major challenge, especially for developing countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa and the African region, adding that this is evidenced by the limitations in affordable financing mechanisms, which have been available for a long time even before the latest Recession periods, explaining that repeated shocks to the global economy affected domestic resources and shook the confidence of foreign investors, which was exacerbated by recent crises, explaining that current United Nations estimates indicate that developing countries will need up to $ 340 billion by 2030. to finance adaptation.


Al-Saeed explained that funding for adaptation in developing countries amounted to $29 billion in 2020, and increased by only 4% over the previous year. Which, however, will suffer the most, Al-Saeed stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors to accelerate climate-related measures and settle the financing deficit without increasing the debt burden on developing countries, adding that in the belief that private investment may face various challenges, partnerships between the public and private sectors are of paramount importance in addressing the financing gap. It should be considered an effective and innovative tool in financing climate-related projects, keeping in mind that sovereign funds, in all their forms, are best prepared to achieve this end.
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Al-Saeed explained that expanding the capacity of renewable energy production in Egypt will enable it to become a leader in fields such as supplying green fuel and water desalination, as well as exporting green ammonia and e-methanol, noting that the Sovereign Fund is seeking to expand in this field by introducing green hydrogen production projects with the sector. He pointed out that one pilot project has already been implemented with local and international partners, which was launched yesterday as the first project in this regard, with the signing of multiple other framework agreements.


Al-Saeed talked about Egypt`s strong potential for renewable energy production, as well as efforts to develop and rehabilitate wind plants to raise their capacity, water desalination projects, electric car charging stations and green data centers, pointing out that the Fund has joined the "One Planet" initiative that brings together Many sovereign funds and financial institutions to promote the implementation of the Paris Agreement.


Al-Saeed stressed that the complexities of accelerating the green transformation on the one hand and following up on development programs on the other hand, made the partnership between the public and private sectors inevitable, explaining that this partnership contributes to encouraging the creation of new markets and stimulating private investments in sectors and activities that private investors previously considered impossible or not. suitable.



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Rewriting & Editing:
Shaima Al Sukari