The announcement was made by Egyptian Minister of the Environment Yasmine Fouad after she met with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Thursday.

Minister Fouad, who is also Ministerial Coordinator and Envoy for COP27, said the annual event will see the announcement of the support of the European Union nations and international financing organisations as well.

The meeting with Kerry tackled cooperation between Egypt and the US amid Egypt's preparations for the UN event, including ways to support the NWFE programme, notably the replacement of 17 natural gas-fired power stations with wind and solar power stations with capacities of up to 10 gigawatts.

The NWFE is a national scheme meant to implement the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), a document Egypt recently submitted detailing its commitments to emission targets by 2030.

In July, Egypt launched the NWFE programme within the framework of its National Climate Change Strategy 2050, with a view to attracting foreign investments to Egypt’s green transformation plan.

The programme seeks to mobilise concessional development finance for a package of priority green development projects in the food, water and energy sectors. The programme aims to achieve sustainable, low-emission development and enhance scientific research and technology transfers in the climate change field.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a number of donors are currently studying the NWFE, Fouad said, according to a statement released by the environment ministry following Kerry’s meeting.

Part of the support for the NWEF programme, Fouad said, will be provided in the form of a grant, while the other part will be soft financing and investments by the private sector at a total cost of nearly $10 billion.

Kerry lauded Egypt's preparations for COP27, affirming his full support for efforts to ensure the conference is successful. Kerry added that Egypt is among the countries that are treading the right path down the road toward green transition.

In February, Egypt and the US launched a joint working group to prepare for COP27.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the meeting of Ministers of the Environment and Climate of the G20, currently held in Indonesia.

Egypt is set to announce a set of presidential initiatives in the spheres of food, water and energy during COP27.

Hopes are pinned on COP27 to turn climate-related pledges into action to help facilitate the move to green energy in order to reduce harmful gas emissions and adapt to climate change as per the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement – adopted at COP21 and signed by over 190 states including Egypt – came into effect in 2016 with the aim of limiting the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Climate finance has been debated at every COP meeting since, as developed countries have failed to meet their promise to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing nations with mitigation and adaptation measures.