Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, highlighted his country’s willingness to continue working closely with the UAE during its COP28 presidency.

He also stressed the importance of maintaining the commitment of developed countries to their financing pledges, as well as accelerating the reforms of international financing institutions and multilateral development banks to finance the efforts aimed at addressing the critical challenges facing developed countries.

While chairing the 159th session of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers, held at the Arab League’s headquarters on Wednesday, Shoukry highlighted the importance of addressing climate change and related security issues, in addition to food and water security, which Arab countries must prioritise as they are among the most affected by climate change.

Under this framework, Shoukry called on everyone to join the initiatives launched by the Egyptian presidency during COP27 held in Sharm El Sheikh, most notably those related to water, food and green hydrogen, as well as the Sustainable Debt Coalition.

Egypt is calling on Arab countries to strengthen their collective action to address these challenges and meet the aspirations of their peoples, to make the Arab League an influential entity in defending Arab collective interests, he added.