UN Secretary General’s Remarks ROUNDTABLES

“Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaosirreversible...”

António

Guterres, UN Secretary General

UN Secretary General António Guterres highlighted his intro by stating that “We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing. Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”

Guterres emphasized the role of developed countries leading in this decade. “This COP must agree on a clear, time-bound roadmap reflective of the scale and urgency of the challenge. This roadmap must deliver effective institutional arrangements for financing and getting concrete results on “loss and damage” is a litmus test of the commitment of the governments to the success of COP27”, he said outlining that Adaptation needs are set to grow to more than $300 billion dollars a year by 2030.

António Guterres highlighted that the road with financial and technological tools is clear, and that the only need is the unity of nations for implementation. He also mentioned that the war in Ukraine, and other conflicts, have caused so much bloodshed and violence and have had dramatic impacts all over the world. Nations must work together to reach peace. His talk ended by emphasizing that the global climate fight will be won or lost in this crucial decade – on our watch.

Following the opening plenary, there were three roundtable sessions with world leaders to discuss a range of pertinent climate change issues including Just Transition, Food Security, and Innovative Finance for Climate and Development.

The Just Transition Roundtable was geared toward fostering dialogue between developing nations, contributing countries, UN entities, financial institutions, the private sector, and philanthropies.

The Food Security Roundtable targeted the initiation of a platform for countries with different national contexts and priorities to identify ways of coming together to collectively tackle the present and future of food security worldwide. Developed countries could share views on how to encourage more balanced diets and minimize emissions per calorie, delivering successes in enhancing agriculture resilience, and reducing food losses. Developing countries that are suffering the most discussed the needed support for scaling resilient agriculture projects and enhancing livelihoods (e.g., regenerative agriculture). Relevant International organizations could pinpoint ways to unlock more funds for resilience projects in developing countries, with a contribution from financial institutions and the private sector on the technical solutions to do so.

The Innovative Finance Roundtable gathered representatives from contributing countries and recipient countries, together with International Financial Institutions, MDBs, and actors from the private sector. Developed countries have elaborated on the barriers hindering the acceleration of investment into climate action (e.g., the need for more investment-ready projects presented by recipient countries). Developing countries discussed various challenges related to obtaining financing for climate projects (e.g., the difficulty of identifying bankable projects without knowing whether financing will be accessible, and complex granting procedures…), and showcased some success stories on reducing the cost of green financing.

Green Zone Opening

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the Green Zone, in the presence of Dr. Yasmine, Minister of Environment, Ministerial Coordinator and Envoy of the Climate Summit, and Mr. Sameh Shoukry, COP 27 president, and in the presence of a group of government ministers.

Investment of 3 Billion USD for Early Warning Systems

The Executive Action Plan for the “Early Warnings for All” initiative calls for initial new targeted investments of $ 3.1 billion between 2023 and 2027, equivalent to a cost of just 50 cents per person per year. UN Secretary Guterres announced the plan at the COP27 climate change conference, underway in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, during a meeting of government and UN leaders, financing agencies, ‘Big Tech’ companies, and the private sector.