Egypt’s foreign ministry and the Coca-Cola Company signed a cooperation protocol on Wednesday, introducing the company as the provider and supporter of the the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November.
The protocol was signed by Ambassador Ashraf Ibrahim, assistant foreign minister and general coordinator of COP27 organisational and financial affairs, and Ahmed Rady, Coca-Cola North Africa vice president of operations.
“Coca-Cola firmly believes that working together through meaningful partnerships will create shared opportunities for communities and people around the world and in Egypt,” said Rady, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry.
Rady also expressed his pride that Egypt is the host country of one of the most important global events, COP27, praising the country's efforts to place climate change at the top of its priorities within the framework of Egypt’s Vision 2030.
“We know that global challenges like plastic waste, water stewardship, and climate change are far too great for any single government, company, or industry to solve individually,” said Michael Goltzman, global vice president of public policy and sustainability at Coca-Cola Company.
Goltzman added that COP27 gives the company an opportunity to continue engaging with experts, non-profits, industry, and governments to support actions towards sustainable change across its value chain.
“The Coca-Cola Company’s bottling partner in Egypt, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (Coca-Cola HBC), announced in 2021 their commitment to reach NetZero emissions across their entire value chain in all markets where they operate by 2040,” read the statement of Coca-Cola on the cooperation protocol.
“Through the COP27 partnership, the Coca-Cola system aims to continue exploring opportunities to build climate resilience across its business, supply chain, and communities, while engaging with other private sector actors, NGOs, and governments to support collective action against climate change,” the statement added.
In September, leading US company IBM was named as the technology partner for COP27.
In August, Egypt, the president of COP27, signed an MoU with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), naming the American global management consulting firm the exclusive partner for the conference.
In addition, Egypt and Vodafone signed an MoU last month, under which the British multinational telecommunications company will be the principle partner for communications during the conference.