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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has pledged to make the next global climate change conference, hosted by his country in November, a “turning point” in international efforts to protect the environment.
Mr El Sisi told the annual Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin on Monday that there should be assistance available to Africa to battle the effects of climate change and outlined his country’s efforts to become greener.
The next global climate change conference, Cop27, will be held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh.
“Climate change constitutes an existential threat to many countries and communities the world over, to such an extent that we can no longer put off the implementation of climate-related pledges and commitments,” Mr El Sisi said.
The Egyptian government’s efforts are focused “on making the Sharm El Sheikh conference a turning point", he said.
The conference will secure “comprehensive results that contribute to keeping within reach the 1.5-degree target and put the world on the right path to adopt the Paris Agreement and decisions by successive climate summits".
Mr El Sisi was referring to the target of limiting global warming to less than 2ºC above pre-industrial levels, preferably 1.5ºC, which was agreed to in Paris in 2016.
“Egypt will spare no effort in making the conference a success,” he said.
He said that Africa’s efforts to battle climate change were hampered by its limited financial resources and that countries there suffered the most from the current food and energy crises.
“Africa suffers desertification, water scarcity, rising sea levels and floods,” Mr El Sisi said. “It is impacted more than any other region."
He said Egypt was expanding the use of electric trains and cars, and investing in renewable energy.
It is battling water scarcity by a host of measures, including cementing water canals to reduce leaks.