I ATTENDED COP28: This is what I did next…

Parliamentarians have a key role to play in ensuring that decisions made at COPs are translated into action by their governments. This is due to their unique role as representatives of the people, and “auditors” of government. As we build-up to COP29, GLOBE as part of its role as the Focal Point of the UNFCCC informal Parliamentary Group has launched this blog series “I ATTENDED COP28: This is what I did next…” to chronicle actions undertaken by MPs post-COP28. This is a way of ensuring that MPs’ experiences and actions during and post-COPs are shared with a wider global community of parliamentarians, thought leaders, and decision makers.It will also serve as motivation for increased action by MPs after future COPs. The blog series will run until the week leading to the commencement of COP29.

I am a member of the Egyptian Parliament and I proudly serve as the Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. Between 30 November to 12 December of last year, I was in the room where it happened – Dubai, where we got one step closer to our climate change goal.

A bit of a background. I have been an active voice in the Egyptian Parliament on climate change. My years of experience speaking to national and international bodies, addressing different audiences at different settings from podcasts to World Bank forums, engaging in climate diplomacy, and studying everything with the word ‘climate’ on it, have led me in November 2022 to introduce Egypt’s first, transformative, and most comprehensive bill on Climate Change, with a defined and time-framed climate neutrality goal.

I was incredibly eager for COP28 for one reason: to witness how developed countries would uphold their commitments from Egypt’s COP27 regarding the establishment of the world’s first Loss and Damage Fund. All eyes were on Dubai, because after all, “it is one thing to have a well-structured fund, but will only be fully operational if it is actually funded” as noted by H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President of COP28. As with all multilateral negotiations, the rule of thumb is to lower your expectations. COP28 did not disappoint however. I walked in with one expectation and I left with two victories. Notably, the agreements of state parties, for the first time, on the goal of a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.

Since my time there, I have dedicated an immense amount of time and energy talking about the significance of this step at a global level. Most recently, I spent time addressing policy makers, fellow parliamentarians and industry leaders at Munich Security Conference, the Spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF, and in the UAE itself speaking about just transition and geopolitical fragmentation, human security and climate change, and the inclusion of youth and other vulnerable groups in climate policymaking. I have also participated in several closed-door meetings with the government of Egypt and I made it quite clear that I will fight tooth and nail to see the change happening. I also worked with a number of embassies in Egypt and government representatives to follow up on debt-for-swap agreements and funding for Egypt and low-income countries based on their commitments.

There has been a strong set of legal interventions coming from young parliamentarians especially from the coordination committee of parties youth leaders and politicians (CPYP) which I am proud to be its member of; interventions for establishing carbon credit markets; ensure we improve the environmental regulations and add the climate lens to Egypt’s development agenda using legislative and over-sight tools; etc.

I have also continued to support civil society in Egypt providing training for policy makers and non-policymakers on climate change to help with our goal of mainstreaming climate goals for everyone.

I am very happy that at COP28, GLOBE Legislators managed to engender for the first time, the coordinated presence of the legislators and parliamentarians from across the globe with every day sessions on the different legislative interventions on climate change.This was done through the Parliamentary Pavilion which was hosted by GLOBE. This helped me, and opened the horizon for excellent networking and exchange of experiences with fellow legislators.

The timing of COP28 did not do it justice. It coincided with the unfortunate war in Gaza (an alarming issue with great humanitarian and climate cost – but that’s for another time). With the next climate conference taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, I am reminded that we should not make this conference go unnoticed or overshadowed. We cannot let governments, particularly those of the G20, get away with providing us with the bare minimum and then celebrating with “well-deserved” champagne and cigars. We need more scrutiny and continued monitoring and evaluation.

This, I believe, is our role – those who are passionate about climate action, but do not have the executive authority or the international stature to change the behavior of more than 193 countries with a snap of a finger. It remains our biggest responsibility to take what we see and witness in COP events, and do something with it. Be it through legislation, judicial avenues, lobbying, media engagement, or education. Do something!

I am Amira Saber and this was what I did after COP28.

*Amira Saber Qandil is the Secretary General of the Foreign Relations Committee, Egyptian House of Representatives.