Rania Al-Mashat — Minister of International Cooperation and Egypt’s Governor at the World Bank Group (WBG) — met with Nicholas Stern — Chairperson of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics — and Nick Dyer — the UK’s Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs — to discuss cooperation.

The meeting with Stern looked into national efforts for green transformation and the measures taken by the Government of Egypt to expand environmentally friendly projects, including renewable energy and green hydrogen.

The meeting also touched on the importance of the role that institutions, research centres and think tanks can play in supporting developing and emerging countries in the green transformation and in strengthening the role of the private sector.

Furthermore, they discussed the importance of development financing for climate action, financing sustainable infrastructure, enhancing private sector participation, and the importance of pushing forward the conversation on mobilising funds to implement climate change at the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27) that will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh this November.

Affirming the institute’s keenness to cooperate with Egypt in advancing efforts regarding climate action, Stern stressed the potential that the country has in in transitioning to a green economy.

Al-Mashat also met with Dyer to discuss global challenges facing developing and emerging countries in light of current global crises, government measures to provide sufficient stocks of strategic goods, investment in storage silos, and increasing the local production of wheat.

The minister emphasised that the economic reform programme that has been implemented with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2016 enabled Egypt to curb the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Al-Mashat also pointed out that the government is ensuring ongoing economic and structural reform, promoting comprehensive and sustainable economic growth.

She indicated that Egypt succeeded in maintaining economic growth despite the pandemic and the economic crisis. The meeting also included discussions on the Development Policy Framework (DPF) between Egypt and the WBG and the Country Climate Development Report (CCDR) that will be launched soon.

The meetings were held on the side-lines of Al-Mashat’s participation in the Spring Meetings of the IMF and WBG that are being held in person in Washington  for the first time after being held virtually throughout 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.