Mohiedin, who is also the UN special envoy on financing the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, made his remarks during the closing session of Europe and Central Asia Regional Forum for Climate Action, held in Geneva by Egypt’s presidency of the COP27 and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

In an unprecedented initiative to catalyse investments in different climate sectors, Egypt announced in July it would hold five regional forums ahead of the climate summit, which is set to be held 6-18 November in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The initiative, Mohieldin said previously, aims to discuss investment opportunities in the sectors of food, water, irrigation, agricultural productivity, new and renewable sources of energy and infrastructure.

In Geneva on Monday, the UN climate champion said a summary of 50 projects will be presented at COP27 in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, with ten projects for each region. Meanwhile, another 100 promising projects will be presented through the official websites of the conference and the climate champions.

The climate champion also recommended that all regional economic commissions share data on these projects, a number of which will be supported by the $130 trillion Glasgow Race to Zero Alliance (GFANZ).

In the same context, Mohieldin affirmed the commitment of the climate champions to support these projects through the participation of investors, multilateral development banks and all stakeholders.

He also pointed out that the climate champions’ agenda will include a number of events starting from the third day of the climate summit.

The climate champion highlighted the importance of convening these five regional forums, which discussed sustainable management, data transparency and climate transition, in addition to coming up with a number of good and specific recommendations.

Mohieldin added that these projects would be followed up with the relevant investment banks, which have expressed interest in exploring more projects.

He also expressed his happiness that there are some good indicators that the projects will be appropriately funded, which is one of the main objectives of these regional forums.

Mohieldin also indicated that these regional forums were able to meet the expectations of the investment community and the private sector, noting that these projects were on the agenda of the last meeting of the GFANZ Africa Network.

Mohieldin stressed that the implementation of these projects will be followed up after the climate summit to ensure that they continue on the right track. Mohieldin concluded his speech by thanking the secretary-general of the United Nations, as well as the various participating governments and ministries.

The event is the fifth regional forum ahead of COP27, with previous roundtables held in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut and Santiago.

The roundtables were held with the aim of enhancing the regional dimension of climate action, finding the best applicable, bankable and investable projects, and mobilising sufficient finance for these projects.