Egypt Calls for Taking ‘Serious Steps’ to Limit Climate Change Impact

Sameh Shoukry during his participation in the World Sustainable Development Summit (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Sameh Shoukry during his participation in the World Sustainable Development Summit (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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Egypt Calls for Taking ‘Serious Steps’ to Limit Climate Change Impact

Sameh Shoukry during his participation in the World Sustainable Development Summit (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Sameh Shoukry during his participation in the World Sustainable Development Summit (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egypt has called for taking serious steps to limit the negative effects of climate change globally.

This came during the participation of Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS), which was organized by India’s Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) via video-conference on Thursday.

President of the upcoming Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) said the summit should represent a turning point in global climate action by turning vows into actions, whether on reducing emissions, adapting to the negative effects of climate change, or securing the financing needed to address the climate change crisis in developing countries.

He underlined the importance of raising the level of ambitions on climate action by urging various parties to update their nationally determined contributions to mitigate emissions that lead to climate change.

Shoukry further called for encouraging countries that have not yet submitted their contributions to the Executive Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to do so in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

He underscored in this regard “the importance of responding to the science’s best findings on climate change, according to reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

According to a foreign ministry statement, Shoukry stressed the need to empower the youth and civil society and engage them in global climate action.

Shoukry emphasized the need to assist and listen to complaints of the groups most affected by the consequences of climate change, which requires taking serious steps to limit the damage associated with the climate crisis.

He said Cairo will carry on its efforts with all parties concerned with global climate action to build confidence and ensure all parties’ comprehensive participation.

Participants extended their congratulations to Egypt for being chosen to host the COP27 Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh at the end of 2022, according to the statement.

They expressed confidence in Egypt’s ability to make the event a success, reflecting the great progress and national efforts it has made in the field of environmental protection and the transition to clean energy.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.