At the Pre-COP 27 meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt’s COP27 Presidency, spelled out the importance that the developed world keep its climate pledges to avoid a “crisis of trust” in the COP process whilst holding out hope for progress at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh this November.  Speaking to an audience including over 60 ministers from around the world about the impact of pledges not being met by the developed world, Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP27 President-Designate, said: “We have not yet delivered on the $100bn pledge, which in itself is more a symbol of trust and reassurance than a remedy to actual climate needs”.  Commenting on the current levels of support to protect people’s lives and livelihoods in the developing world he highlighted that “mitigation finance is receiving more attention than adaptation” and that “instruments of finance are still mostly non-concessional loans rather than concessional loans and grants which account for only six percent of climate finance.  We must find a way to address this challenge. Without appropriate and fair finance serving as a catalyst, we will all continue to struggle in delivering impactful climate action.” 

Despite the scale of the challenge facing many nations, given current geopolitical and economic issues, the Egyptian Presidency-Designate spoke about the need to make progress stating that: “delaying action will only make it harder and more expensive.”  

Speaking about the recent Heads of Delegation meetings held in Cairo, Shoukry stated his hopes about progress, saying that he: “witnessed a constructive exchange of views” which he believed had “paved the way for ... a smooth opening of our agenda and a constructive negotiation around the crucial issues of funding arrangements for loss and damage”.   The inclusion of loss and damage on the agenda would indicate a significant shift in the debate and would enable COP27 to make progress on four key areas of climate action: adaptation, mitigation, finance and loss and damage, which featured prominently in Pre-COP27’s agenda.  Recently, Denmark followed Scotland in providing unilateral support for loss and damage by earmarking$13m through a financial instrument for loss and damage.  Urging nations to address the trust deficit, Shoukry said: “we must develop and cultivate a sense of mutual trust and understanding.  Our effort must not be approached as a zero-sum equation.  We must all rise to the occasion and demonstrate leadership, set aside narrow national interests and appreciate the potential in cooperation, compromise and collective win-win scenarios”.