Egypt: “Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE)” and the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook” at the forefront of an International Roadmap to Scale Up Climate Investments
The Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (IHLEG) has included the country platform for the “NWFE” program and the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing” in its recently issued report during the COP30 Climate Conference in Brazil. The report sets a roadmap to increase climate investments in developing countries to reach $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.
The IHLEG issued a comprehensive report on the external financing required by 2035 for developing countries to support climate investment needs. This was done at the request of the COP29 and COP30 presidencies to establish a roadmap for increasing climate finance through realistic solutions that integrate external financing with public finance from various countries.
The report emphasized that the “NWFE” country platform for Water, Food, and Energy projects, launched by Egypt in 2022, is the first explicitly multi-sectoral country platform linking investments across overlapping vital sectors. It noted that the platform was among those issued by other developing countries to align national strategies with international climate action priorities, citing Türkiye, Brazil, and Bangladesh.
The report underscored several lessons learned from the country platform for the “NWFE” program and the country platforms of a number of developing countries. It highlighted that their most significant feature is their multi-sectoral nature, along with national ownership, where these platforms must align with the country’s priorities, not the donors’, ensuring the sustainability of efforts and building trust.
In the same context, the report stressed the quality of projects as a main pillar that enhances credibility and contributes to attracting investments and accelerating implementation. It also mentioned that starting with a focused platform and gradually expanding as the country’s capabilities grow helps in gaining experience over time.
H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, noted that despite three years passing since the launch of the “NWFE” country platform, it has become a model that international institutions advocate for replication in developing countries after its success in creating real integration and close coordination among the government, international institutions, and the private sector. This success has stimulated a just transition in the energy sector, as well as boosted climate action efforts in the water and food sectors. She pointed out that Türkiye, Bangladesh, and Brazil were inspired by the Egyptian model to build their national platforms, and the Ministry is working with other countries to transfer its expertise to initiate their platforms.
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat added that the platform has so far succeeded in mobilizing climate investments worth $4.5 billion to implement renewable energy projects with a capacity of 5.2 GW, while projects for which Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) have been signed reached about 8.8 GW, out of a total target of 10 GW. She mentioned that this funding has been made available to the private sector, enabling the state to implement its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and enhance climate action. Furthermore, the platform encouraged innovative and blended finance, such as grants, debt swaps, private sector investments, and concessional financing.
The Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing
In the same context, the report addressed practices and principles for a just transition in developing countries, reaffirming that a just transition is a cornerstone of climate and development strategies, plans, and financing.
The “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing” reinforces this approach by calling for the integration of equity in the design and direction of climate finance.
It is noteworthy that the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing set 12 principles to foster climate finance and support the efforts of developing countries. This includes supporting the right of developing countries to development and industrialization through just pathways within the framework of the Paris Agreement, and ensuring consistency between global climate action goals and national development goals in both mitigation and adaptation.
The Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook also underscored supporting government efforts to create an enabling environment by providing finance, raising technical and institutional efficiency and capacities. This comes in line with achieving climate goals, ensuring the right of all countries to achieve development under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, and including the concept of just financing in the structure of international climate finance and ensuring an implementation mechanism.
The government launched the country platform for the “NWFE” program—the nexus between Water, Food, and Energy projects—during the Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022, attended by a large gathering of development partners, international alliances working in the climate field, and the private sector. It also launched the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing” with the participation of think tanks, research centers, and international experts to reinforce guiding principles for stimulating climate investments.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation – Egypt.
