CAIRO – 17 January 2023: Minister of International Cooperation Rania A. Al-Mashat began her agenda on the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings 2023 in Davos by participating within the launch of the “Giving to Amplify Earth Motion” (GAEA); call to motion initiative to philanthropy on the speed required to attain an equitable climate- and nature-positive future in a World Economic Forum Session titled “Philanthropy: A Catalyst for Protecting Our Planet”.
Alongside Al-Mashat, this session included WEF President Børge Brende; Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, National Security Council (NSC) John Kerry; Managing Director for the Centre for Nature and Climate on the WEF Gim Huay Neo; United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Motion and Finance Mark Carney; CEO for Temasek Trust Desmond Kuek; CEO for Crescent Enterprises Badr Jafar; and Vice Chairwoman of Carbon Direct Nili Gilbert. .
The session discussed the role of philanthropic organizations in stimulating climate motion. It also addressed how the federal government and personal sectors can leverage the resources and tools available to philanthropic organizations to bridge an estimated $100 trillion gap to be able to deploy equitable solutions to preserve climate and nature by 2050, because the initiative and its goals were announced.
In her remarks, Al-Mashat stressed that climate change is a world challenge and that efforts should be unified, together with commitment to climate motion and strengthened joint work amongst relevant stakeholders to utilize all available resources in keeping with the green transition. It’s important to notice the role of philanthropic organizations and the resources available to them in stimulating climate motion through a partnership with each the private sector and the general public sector to mobilize the required investments and assist in the flow of capital.
Al-Mashat stated that in 2021, about 2% of the resources of philanthropic organizations were directed to climate motion (between $7.5-12.5 billion), to help in efforts to mitigate the repercussions of climate change, while these organizations made available resources estimated at about $810 billion. The Minister stressed that philanthropic organizations can play a catalytic role for climate motion through their available resources to finance high-risk projects, in addition to technical expertise, and their openness to broad networks of actors, which stimulates the private sector to play a greater role in climate financing.
Furthermore, H.E. also referred to the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing”, which was published at COP27 as one among the initiatives of Egypt’s presidency. The guidebook presents clear principles and proposals for every of the relevant stakeholders playing a task in stimulating climate motion, highlighting the role of philanthropic organizations and noting the coordination between multilateral development banks and other providers of capital resembling the private sector and charitable institutions to be able to stimulate the supply of economic resources on a big scale.
Al-Mashat stressed the importance of the private sector and philanthropic organizations providing additional sources of financing together with technical expertise, and cooperation with the federal government sector, thus enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change and the transition from pledges to implementation through the mobilization of economic resources. H.E. also noted the necessity for these resources to be directed more towards efforts to adapt to climate change, which don’t receive sufficient funding.
In light of Egypt’s COP27 presidency, philanthropic organizations have taken over a big a part of the discussions and events among the many international community to debate their role in driving climate motion, with the continuing global dialogue being the structure of international finance institutions, including mentioned organizations as key players in mobilizing the resources and investments needed to drive development efforts and climate motion.
Al-Mashat identified that the Nexus for Water, Food and Energy “NWFE” program, launched by Egypt in mid-2022 and the letters of intent and agreements related to it were signed during COP27, is working to mobilize various financing mechanisms through development partners, the private sector and likewise philanthropic organizations. This goals to stimulate the ambition of climate motion in Egypt, pointing that this yr, and in light of Egypt’s Presidency of the COP27, will witness many developments regarding the implementation of the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing”, in addition to strengthening the role of stakeholders to finance NWFE Projects.
The session witnessed praise for Egypt’s hosting and chairmanship of COP27, and the importance of the conference as a step towards the transition from financial commitments to implementation. John Kerry, US Presidential Climate Envoy, also applauded the launch of the NWFE program as a model for developing countries and emerging economies to boost climate finance on the premise of platforms, resembling the JETP.
In a related context, United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Motion and Finance Mark Carney referred to the joint work with the Ministry of International Cooperation to launch the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing.
