Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, climate pioneer for the Egyptian presidency of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP27) and the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, stressed that the process of accelerating the financing of a just transition in the energy sector must take place through diversifying energy sources and adopting a comprehensive approach that takes into account The social and economic dimensions of transformation along with the environmental dimension.
This came during his participation in the session of the platform to accelerate the financing of transformation in the field of energy, within the activities of the meetings of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) held in Abu Dhabi.
Mohieldin said that about 600 million Africans live without electricity, and more than a billion people around the world suffer from poverty, which confirms the importance of accelerating financing the transition in the energy sector, taking into account the economic and social conditions of countries and societies.
Mohieldin stressed the importance of this transformation taking into account debt reduction in developing countries, and that energy plans and projects be financed according to a mechanism on concessional terms that include middle-income countries, in addition to low-income countries, with interest rates not exceeding 1 percent, and a grace period of no less than 1 percent. Ten years and a repayment period of twenty years.
Mohieldin stated that strengthening the role of international financing institutions and multilateral development banks will help in financing the transformation process in the energy sector and encourage the private sector to participate in financing and implementing energy projects.
Mohieldin noted the importance of working cumulatively based on what was reached in the past, and explained that the Egyptian presidency of the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties in Sharm El-Sheikh, in cooperation with the regional economic committees of the United Nations and climate pioneers, launched the initiative of the five regional forums to reach the best climate projects that suit the priorities of each. Region and finding the best ways to finance them, adding that some of the projects that resulted from the initiative are related to the transformation of the energy sector and it is agreed that some of these projects will benefit from the financing of the Glasgow Alliance to Finance the Race Toward Zero (GFANZ).
Mohieldin said that the Sharm El-Sheikh conference aimed to provide clean and safe energy as one of the goals of sustainable development, pointing out that there is great interest in investing in renewable energy sources, especially in light of the current energy crisis.
