In session KS27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, attended by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

On the sidelines of the conference, the Prime Minister met with the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change. John Kerryparticipated in a high-level event on the Egyptian Cypriot initiative to coordinate action on climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, and co-chaired a high-level round table on safe access to water.

During the meeting with John Kerry, according to the information, the cooperation between Greece and the United States in the fight against climate change and in achieving the goal of zero emissions by 2050 was discussed.

The Prime Minister informed the interlocutor about the preparations for the organization of the international conference “Our Ocean” in 2024 in Greece, as well as about our country’s support for the initiative of the United States and Norway “Green Shipping Challenge”.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed US initiatives to reduce the energy footprint of shipping, highlighting the key role of the Greek-owned maritime industry – the world’s largest – in achieving any goal of developing sustainable solutions in the sector.

The Green Shipping Challenge, announced at COP27, aims to encourage governments, ports and shipping companies to take concrete steps to decarbonise the shipping sector by 2050 at the latest.

Mr. Mitsotakis also briefed Mr. Kerry on Greece’s initiatives to diversify energy sources and routes and make our country an energy transmission hub connecting Africa and the eastern Mediterranean with Eastern Europe.

Earlier, the Prime Minister, together with the President of Egypt and the organizer of the COP27 session, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, took part in a high-level event initiated by Cyprus and Egypt. “Coordination of action on climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East”.

In his speech, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of regional cooperation and coordination to address climate change in the eastern Mediterranean, with a focus on interconnection and disaster management.

“Further cooperation in the field of energy unification is necessary. This is a matter of paramount importance to us. Of course, together with President Sisi, we are aiming to develop an important new relationship between Greece and Egypt so that we can transfer cheap energy from renewable sources that will be produced in this part of the world, and not just in Greece. but European markets are also looking for cheaper energy from RES,” the prime minister said.

Referring to the challenges posed by the climate crisis in the field of civil protection, Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized the need for increased transnational cooperation.

“We all face catastrophic weather events. Some of us are more likely to experience fires, some more floods. And it is relatively easy and efficient to work together in terms of sharing civil protection resources. For example, for the wildfires we experienced this summer – fortunately they were much less destructive than the fires of the previous summer – Jordan responded very quickly and sent us a helicopter. We did the same with Israel and vice versa. Therefore, I urge the group to consider the possibility of closer cooperation in the field of civil protection,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“We are doing this at the level of the European Union, and I think it would be a very good signal for the European RescEU mechanism to join forces with the countries of the region so that there are more common resources so that we can respond to events that we know will be more and more likely. “, the prime minister added.

It is noted that this initiative was announced by the Republic of Cyprus in 2018 and was supported by Greece from the very beginning. This has led to the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate Crisis Policy and Action Framework, which includes six complementary action areas. The goal of the initiative is for countries in the region to develop a regional action plan that will build on these six pillars.

As part of COP27, the Prime Minister, along with the President of Senegal and the President of the African Union, Macky Sall, co-chaired a high-level roundtable on safe and seamless access to water.

In his speech, the Prime Minister emphasized that limited access to clean water and droughts are inextricably linked to climate change and affect a large part of the world’s population, adding that these phenomena affect the entire Mediterranean basin. He emphasized that droughts are a multi-layered problem that contributes to migration flows and population displacement, and emphasized the need for partnerships and joint initiatives for effective water management.

^{Source: RES-IPE}