Egypt’s ministries of international cooperation and environment announced on Wednesday the launch of national consultations with the World Bank Group (WBG) to discuss the general framework for climate action and preparations for the climate and development report on Egypt.

Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat stated at the meeting that the talks involve ministries and stakeholders to identify the government's priorities concerning the report.

The report is meant to set the national mechanisms for assessing the effects of climate change on Egypt's economy and monitoring the steps taken to adapt to it, said Al-Mashat.

“The multi-stakeholder consultations are necessary to prepare the aforementioned report, especially since climate change has cast a shadow on various development sectors, agriculture in particular. A national committee will be convened, comprising ministries and stakeholders, to resume discussions on the priority sectors that the report will focus on,” said the minister.

Al-Mashat highlighted the value of the development financing agreements signed with the WBG in 2020, which amount to $1.5 billion.

Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad, asserted Egypt’s keenness to take active steps to address climate change, including the reconfiguration of the National Council for Climate to be chaired by Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and to encompass other economic sectors to make climate action an integral part of development.

Fouad added that the Ministry of Environment will launch the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction with the support of state ministries and the Green Climate Fund to attract investments and engage the private sector in climate action plans.

The environment minister added that members of the technical working group in the National Council for Climate are working on a study aimed at examining the effects of climate change on the economy to define the most affected sectors. This comes following rigorous scientific research to determine the needs of the World Bank and the actual cost of relevant projects. The agricultural sector has been identified as one of the priority sectors that was not given due attention as much as the energy sector.

Marina Weiss, the regional director of the World Bank in Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti thanked the Egyptian government for its collaboration in curbing the repercussions of climate change, noting that the WBG seeks to support national efforts in terms of climate action, given the importance of these initiatives to enhance national and regional development efforts led by Egypt.

The ongoing development cooperation portfolio between the Ministry of International Cooperation and the WBG includes 17 projects to the tune of $5.8 billion to support various sectors, including education, health, transport, social solidarity, petroleum, housing, sanitation, local development, and the environment.