Brussels, 15 June 2022
Today in Cairo, on the occasion of the visit of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her meeting with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the EU and Egypt issued a joint statement on climate, energy and the green transition.
President von der Leyen said:
I look forward to working with Egypt as COP27 Presidency to build on the good momentum from last year in Glasgow. Egypt is also a crucial partner in our efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels and towards more reliable suppliers.
The President’s full remarks at the joint press point will be available here. The joint statement commits both parties to work together on a global just energy transition, on improving adaptation capacity, mitigating loss and damage due to climate change, and on increasing climate finance to respond to the needs of developing countries. The cooperation will have a particular focus on renewable energy sources, hydrogen, and energy efficiency.
In light of the new geopolitical and energy market reality after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and following the President’s visit to Israel earlier this week, today in Cairo the EU also signed a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the export of natural gas to Europe from Israel and other sources in the Eastern Mediterranean region via Egypt’s LNG infrastructure.
The MoU, which will help the EU achieve the diversification goals set out in the REPowerEU Plan and in the External Energy Engagement Strategy, was signed by Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, together with Ministers El Molla and Elharrar. The three parties will work together on the stable delivery of natural gas, in a way that is consistent with long-term decarbonisation objectives and based on market-oriented pricing. They will also promote the reduction of methane leakage, and in particular examine new technologies for reducing venting and flaring and explore possibilities for the utilisation of captured methane throughout the entire supply chain. A full press release is available here.
Source – European Commission
More information:
EU-Egypt Joint Statement on Climate, Energy and Green Transition
Brussels 15 June 2022