Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the 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, affirmed that women have leadership capabilities and the ability to solve problems, which makes their participation in development and climate work indispensable.
This came during his participation in the opening session of Women’s Day entitled “Women’s participation in discussions and implementation of climate action is a win for all”, within the activities of the 27th Conference of the Parties, during which Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, delivered the speech of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and with the participation of Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Nevin El-Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Ghada Wali, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Dr. Maya Morsi, President of the National Council for Women, Dr. Sima Bohouth , Executive Director of the United Nations Women, along with a number of African ministers and women representatives of regional and international organizations.
Mohieldin said that women around the world have proven their ability to make decisions and solve problems by holding the presidency of international organizations, heading governments and leading ministries in various countries, explaining that women are always at the heart of problems and at the forefront of solutions.
Mohieldin explained that women are victims of the crises the world is going through, such as poverty, hunger, lack of financing and lack of education, saying that two-thirds of the world’s women lack education, and women represent 63% of the poor around the world, which confirms the need to work to enhance women’s access to education and financing.
Mohieldin stressed the importance of pluralism and the need to enhance women’s participation in decision-making with regard to development and climate action, pointing to the importance of the initiative adopted by Dr. Maya Morsi and the National Council for Women regarding raising awareness among women of climate issues.
He referred to the active participation of women in the national initiative for smart green projects, as women submitted more than a thousand projects out of about 6 thousand projects that were registered, and 3 projects out of the 18 winning projects were submitted by women.
Raed Al-Manakh stressed the importance of the flow of fair financing on easy terms to developing countries, which contributes to the empowerment of women in various fields.
In a session titled “Earth Observation Systems for Monitoring and Managing Watershed Systems,” Mohieldin said that climate action must take place within a holistic framework that includes all dimensions stipulated in the Paris Climate Agreement, stressing that there is no room for trade-offs between sustainable development goals as effective climate action It will not be possible without delivering energy to all, providing food and protecting water sources.
Mohieldin pointed out the importance of the role of science and updated databases in climate action, pointing out that the early warning system proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which African countries will benefit from, needs updated databases on an ongoing basis.
Raed Al-Manakh said that promoting scientific activity requires adequate funding, noting that there were good initiatives during the conference that linked the academic community more closely to climate action, in addition to the Egyptian initiative to enhance the role of universities and research centers in climate action.
