12 March 2023 – The Egyptian COP27 Presidency, the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Egypt convened the first consultation meeting on “Operationalizing COP27 Presidency Initiative: Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP): Next Steps” on 6-7 March 2023, in Cairo with the support of the European Union.

Launched at COP27, CRSP is the first of its kind initiative by a COP Presidency addressing the climate-peace-development nexus. The initiative emphasizes the importance of leveraging climate action as an entry point for peace and resilience and grounds it in national ownership, context specificity, and inclusivity. It builds upon the deliberations and conclusions of the Third Edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, which was held in June 2022.

The CRSP initiative currently focuses on the African continent as it is among the most impacted by the consequences of climate change while contributing the least to this phenomenon. Concurrently, Africa is witnessing the greatest number of armed conflicts while being the focus of most peacebuilding efforts. In this regard, the initiative aims to implement a variety of programs and activities relating to convening, research and capacity building across four pillars, namely: (i) Advancing the Climate Adaptation and Peacebuilding Nexus; (ii) Sustaining Peace through Climate-Resilient Food Systems; (iii) Advancing Durable Solutions to Climate-Displacement Nexus; and (iv) Accelerating Climate Finance for Sustaining Peace in Africa.

The consultation meeting defined a clear set of deliverables for 2023-2024 under each of the initiative’s pillars; adopted the partnership framework; and outlined the way forward on resource mobilization, communication and advocacy, and international engagement. Progress on the operationalization of the initiative will be presented at COP28. At the meeting, the CSRP social media accounts were also launched (@CRSP_COP27 on Twitter and crsp_cop27 on Instagram).

In his opening remarks, H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Abdel-Latif, Director General of CCCPA said, “It is exciting to see CRSP progress from a novel concept that brings sustaining peace and climate change together into an actionable agenda.” He also noted, “this first consultation is an important milestone to develop an implementation roadmap for CRSP which outlines how, through concrete deliverables, it will be connecting peace, climate change, development and humanitarian actors, catalyzing action and policy interventions and positively impacting communities at the local level.” Finally, he highlighted CCCPA’s commitment to support this endeavor “by working closely with the COP27 Presidency and key partners such as UNDP, the African Union Commission (AUC) as well as all other partners at large whose contribution is essential to deliver tangible actions on the road to COP28.”

Addressing the opening session, COP27 Presidency representative, Minister Plenipotentiary Mohamed El Gammal, Deputy Director of the Climate, Environment and Sustainable Development Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We strongly believe that there is no sustainable development without peace, and there is no peace without sustainable development. In this regard, CRSP is paramount for Egypt because it presents a unique nexus by interlinking climate action with peace and sustainable development. It also aims to improve the resilience and sustainability of communities and their livelihoods, and to fill existing gaps between developmental, humanitarian, and peacebuilding approaches and processes.”

On his part, Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt said, “Climate action has co-benefits, not only for development and environment but also for peace, stability, and security.” He explained how the technical solutions that renewable energy and adaptation can offer in many fragile and conflict-affected contexts “will serve as a key entry point to help mend the social fabric and ensure peaceful and resilient recovery.” He also noted, “the consultations are timely and of great importance to UNDP. Through the initiative, we look forward to working together on advancing the climate adaptation and peace-building nexus and accelerating climate finance for sustaining peace.”

In his remarks at the opening session, AUC Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye stated, “As a partner of the CRSP initiative, we welcome efforts to operationalize it. This will “help reinforce peace, security, and stability in the humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding contexts, as our aspiration, indeed, is to silence the guns, and address climate change impacts for peaceful growth and development.”

UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Ms. Elena Panova also addressed the opening session: “The successful launch of the CRSP initiative during COP27 was a testament of the Egyptian COP27 Presidency and CCCPA leadership and courage. The initiative is built on the success of the Aswan Forum where sustainable development and sustaining peace come together. Going forward, I see a real opportunity for the initiative to look at strengthening the capacities of civil society partners throughout the region.”

In his remarks, Mr. Tobias Krause, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt, agreed on the importance of involving civil society in the operationalization of the initiative. He advocated action on climate change and security at different levels: local, national and regional to find context-based solutions and highlighted the need to seek synergies among actors to optimize results.

The consultation was attended by representatives from a number of countries (Belgium Cameroon, France Ireland, Japan, Norway, Somalia, South Sudan, Sweden and Switzerland) and was addressed by the COP28 Presidency Team.

In addition, several international and regional organizations attended the consultation: African Union Commission (AUC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (UN DPPA) and World Food Programme (WFP), as well as CSOs and research centers: Adelphi, the African Center for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Berghof Foundation, the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR), Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), Geneva Peacebuilding Platform (GPP), I Lead Climate Initiative, International Crisis Group (ICG), Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Munich Security Conference (MSC), the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), RAED Network, and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).