20^th October 2016

Cairo – The European Union (EU) Delegation to Egypt is celebrating the EU Climate Action Day in Cairo in cooperation with the EU Member States Embassies.

The event will offer the opportunity to the Ambassadors of the EU Member States to present trees to be planted in Cairo Ezbet El Nasr area, where the Urban Development Programme, jointly financed by the EU and Germany, implemented by GIZ is working to rejuvenate the neighbourhood by reconstructing the streets and planting trees with the objective of climate adaptation.

Mr. Reinhold Brender, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the EU Delegation to Egypt stressed that the EU and its Member States are taking concrete implementation very seriously: We are moving forward with our ambitious domestic climate policies, with new proposals that will help us meet our emissions reduction target of at least 40% by 2030 and further drive the transition to a low-carbon economy. We hear and understand concerns that taking action against climate change can affect economic growth. But we have found that the opposite is true: our emissions have decreased by 23% since 1990, while GDP has grown by 46% in the same period. During these years we have created new jobs, businesses, technologies and competitive advantages that prepare us better for the new climate compatible economy.

Climate action is also an important priority for the EU in Egypt. The total value of currently ongoing as well as projects in preparation exceeds 700 million EUR in grants for the benefit of Egypt. This has also helped leveraging additional concessional loans from the European Investment Bank and other EU development Banks for some 4.65 Billion Euros. These projects work in such areas such as renewable and clean energy, energy efficiency, transport, sanitation, water and waste management, pollution abatement, housing and agriculture.

The EU is one of the world's leading providers of climate finance through official development assistance (ODA). The EU is fully committed to doing its part and counts on the continued cooperation and collaboration of its international partners for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Together, the EU and its Member States are the largest providers of climate finance (more than half of all funding). In 2014, the EU and it Member States provided EUR 14.5 billion (for climate change mitigation 63%, adaptation 16%, crosscutting 21%) from public budgets and development finance institutions^[1]. The EU remains committed to contributing its fair share to the developed countries’ goal of jointly making available from a wide variety of sources USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to support developing countries.

On 5^th October the Paris Agreement, quite less than one year after its adoption, reached the necessary threshold to enter into force as 197 countries had signed the Agreement and 75 had completed their domestic ratification procedures. The EU, which already played a decisive role in the adoption of the Paris Agreement last December, ratified the Paris Agreement by vote in the European Parliament on 4^th of October triggering also the action in the rest of the world.

For more information, please contact:

Programme Manager: Janis Aizsalnieks, Email: Janis.AIZSALNIEKS@eeas.europa.eu,

Communication coordinator/ Acting Press Ms. Najlaa AbdelBary najlaa.abdel-bary@eeas.europa.eu

Website: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegation/egypt

Twitter: @EUinEgy

Facebook: http://ww.facebook.com/EUDelegationegypt

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ1Me9-jssF56KKwzBh0_7w

[1] This number does not yet include finance mobilised through the private sector and multi-lateral development banks.