Cop27:Minister of Planning launches the first Egyptian fund to invest in EgyCOP

Dr. Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development witnessed today, launching the first Egyptian fund to invest in projects that issue carbon certificates, EgyCOP, during the “Solutions Day” activities that are supervised by the Ministry of Planning as part of the activities of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), which is hosted by Egypt in Sharm El-Sheikh from November 7-18. with wide international participation.

EgyCOP is the first crtificate of its kind in the Egyptian market

Dr. Hala Al-Said confirmed, at the beginning of her speech; that EgyCOP is the first of its kind in the Egyptian market, and it is a vivid example of the vision of this year's COP presidency "Together for Implementation" because it represents a tangible step forward towards cooperation in implementing creative solutions that can help our world in combating climate change.

Minister of Planning : Egypt and Africa can reduce carbon emissions

The Minister of Planning confirmed that with this launch, Egypt and Africa will have a greater role in investing in reducing carbon emissions as Egypt has a variety of qualified projects that can help reduce carbon emissions, in the transportation, energy, solid waste and biodiversity sectors.

Dr. Hala Al-Saeed also stressed that EgyCop certificates provide more functional space for the release of public funds towards adaptation projects, especially in the current slowing global economic activity and limited financial resources.

Complementarity between the main goal of EgyCOP and the launch of the EGX Carbon Market

The Minister of Planning, Dr. Hala Al-Said noted that there is a clear complementarity between the main goal of EgyCOP and the launch of the EGX Carbon Market during the financing day last week, as it also introduces the first direct investment company operating in voluntary carbon markets, and this intersection of work and initiatives between policy makers and the private sector confirms the commitment Egypt in taking transformative steps towards climate action.

The Minister of Planning and Economic Development explained that integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the criteria used by the gold standard in measuring verifiable emissions reduction will have significant effects on accelerating the achievement of sustainable development goals by 2030, noting that this reflects the harmonization of efforts at the national level to achieve the Egypt Vision 2030 goals and objectives.

Supporting the implementation of private sector

At the end of her speech, Dr. Hala Al-Said concluded that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development remains committed to supporting the implementation of private sector participation not only in the Egyptian economy, but also in the African continent, for a positive, measurable and tangible impact on the climate.

It is noteworthy that the Egyptian Fund for Investment in Projects that issues carbon certificates, EgyCOP, has an authorized capital of one billion Egyptian pounds to finance the projects of Egyptian companies that achieve a reduction in emissions in Egypt and internationally accredited certificates are ssued by the Swiss Gold Standard Corporation for them for balancing emissions.

Launching and signing ceremony of EgyCOP certificates

The first part of the launch and signing ceremony of EgyCOP certificates witnessed a press conference in the presence of Dr. Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohamed Farid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Financial Supervision, and Ayman Suleiman, Executive Director of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, as well as Hany Asaad, Managing Director of Avanz Capital Egypt, and Gamal Moharram, Chairman of MGM.

The second part featured a panel discussion moderated by Sherif Al Diwani, Member of the Board of Directors of MGM, with the participation of Margaret N. Kim, CEO of Gold Standard, Laila Iskandar, Founder of CID Consulting, Mohamed Kamel, Chairman of Option Travel, Abdel Hamid Bishara, CEO of Masader Environmental and Social Affairs Consulting, and Peter Cashin, Chief Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation.