COP 27 climate change event gets underway in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt)

S.E.M. Pierre DARTOUT à la COP27 ©DR

The 27^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) began work on Sunday 6 November in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt). The event is set to mark a turning point in the history of the Convention and of the Paris Agreement. Following a decade of intense negotiations – which culminated at COP 26 in Glasgow with the adoption of the Paris Rulebook, the guidelines for how the Paris Agreement will be delivered – the discussions are now entering the implementation era.

At the opening of the Conference, on 7 and 8 November, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Mr Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, held a summit for heads of state, attended by more than 110 international leaders and the United Nations Secretary-General. The Principality of Monaco was represented at the summit by H.E. Mr Pierre Dartout, Minister of State, accompanied by Ms Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister for Environmental Affairs, Public Works and Urban Planning.

H.E. Mr Dartout took part in two high-level round tables: “Innovative Finance for Climate and Development” and “Climate Change and the Sustainability of Vulnerable Communities”. Some of the Principality’s cooperation actions were highlighted during these sessions. Funding for climate action in developing countries is at the heart of the discussions on implementing the Paris Agreement.

At the summit, H.E. the Minister of State gave the national speech on behalf of the Principality, noting the Prince’s Government’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in 2050, in accordance with the targets set by H.S.H. Prince Albert II.

Several bilateral meetings were also organised on the sidelines of the Summit, notably with the Head of the Andorran Government, Mr Xavier ESPOT ZAMORA, and with the Administrator of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, Mr Geoffroi MONTPETIT. On this occasion, a new financing agreement was signed by Mrs CARON-DAGIONI in order to support the Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (IFDD) in the implementation of projects related to sustainable tourism and the blue economy in French-speaking small island developing states as well as the fight against climate change. Within the framework of this partnership, H.E. Mr DARTOUT also went to meet young Francophone negotiators whose training and travel were financed thanks to the Principality's financial contribution.

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