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AmCham Egypt and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) hosted the first Egyptian Business Summit on Climate Change on October 28. The summit emphasized the importance of public and private sector cooperation, and highlighted best practices in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving companies’ environmental footprints. The keynote address was delivered by Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, former US vice president and founder and chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection.
Also in attendance were Maged George, minister of state for environmental affairs; M. Gamal Moharam, AmCham Egypt president and chairman of MGM Financial & Banking Consultants Co.; James Rawley, resident representative of the UNDP; and more than 1,000 distinguished figures, including government representatives, diplomats and business leaders.
The first session, “Impact of climate change: Egypt and the world,” focused on educating attendees about possible global and local changes. Mostafa Kamal Tolba, former director of the UN Environment Program, focused on achieving sustainable development. He noted that Egypt, as a developing country, cannot stop its carbon emissions. In 1990, Egypt produced 0.5 percent of global greenhouse gas omissions; that has increased to around 0.64 percent. However, Egypt has been getting more efficient, with greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of GDP decreasing by half.
Benoit Lebot, executive coordinator for the global environmental facility of the UNDP, spoke about the need for immediate action on climate change. He noted that Egypt’s Delta region is vulnerable to rising sea levels, which could reduce arable land and destroy homes. He also cited the “UNDP Human Development Report 2007/08,” which called for an 80 percent reduction in 1990 carbon emission levels by 2050.
The next session, “Reacting to a crisis: best practices,” highlighted corporations that had significantly changed their carbon footprints, city-level systems for reducing carbon emissions, discussions on alternative energy development, and a case study of how aid programs can use market solutions to reduce carbon output. Stellan Fryxell, a partner in Tengbom Architects in Copenhagen, discussed steps Copenhagen has taken to become more environmentally friendly. The Danish capital uses efficient district heating and cooling. Much of the city’s electricity and heat are generated by biogas developed from waste sewage and organic matter.
Mike Otten, general manager of Grundfos Egypt & Libya, discussed products that are profitable and environmentally friendly. BioBooster is a small flexible wastewater treatment facility that can be used by villages and metropolises. NoNox is an air purification system for buses that dramatically reduces toxic emissions, and SQflex is a water pump system powered by solar or wind energy.
Thomas Adner, managing director of Tetra Pak Egypt, discussed his company’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and promote recycling. Even though cartons are not often recycled, he said, they are environmentally friendly since they are 70 percent paper and their light weight makes transportation less expensive and environmentally friendly. Tetra Pak Egypt has persuaded four paper mills to accept cartons for recycling, and Adner said 19 percent of Tetra Pak cartons filled in Egypt will be recycled this year.
Khaled Abu Bakr, managing director of TAQA Arabia, an energy company focused on natural gas, said Egypt’s economy must continue to expand and renewable energy will comprise only a small part of total energy needs in the short term. He called for a shift to natural gas, which he said burns 30 percent cleaner than oil. Among TAQA’s efforts to increase natural gas use, Abu Bakr highlighted the potential benefits of natural gas-powered river barges.
Jeffrey Haeni, a renewable energy specialist for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), focused on public-private partnerships, citing efforts in India to encourage the use of bagasse, a sugar cane waste product, for energy production. The bagasse program cost $39 million over 10 years, he said, and led to 195 megawatts of power production installed at nine sugar mills.
Hassan Abdel Salam, CEO of Sewedy for Wind Energy Generation, discussed the advantages of wind energy as “not only a clean energy, but an economic one.” The government has declared a goal of reaching 7,200 megawatts of wind energy in coming years. Abdel Salam cited the need for a feed-in tariff to encourage development.
After the panel discussion, Gore spoke. He warmed up the audience by recounting stories about his close loss in the US presidential election to George W. Bush in 2000. In his remarks he called for governments to invest in green technologies such as solar and wind power to help provide jobs while the world continues to face anemic economic growth.
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