Spotlight

Representing AFED at the Council meeting of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Cairo Forum, organized by the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES), AFED Secretary General, Najib Saab, called on Arab states to help create “Alliance of the Climate Willing” (countries which are committed to climate action). This would gather all those who still consider climate and environment a priority, including the EU, China and other developed and developing countries. Succumbing to US bullying is not the only choice. While joining anti-climate policies might generate fast gains in the short-run, it will strip Arab countries, especially oil producers, of their competitive advantage in the future.

Cairo Forum kicked off with 2 forceful keynote speeches delivered by Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and Stefan Löfven, former PM of Sweden. Both stressed the need to defy US economic and climate policies, and agreed that lasting peace and stable prosperity in the Middle East cannot be achieved without securing national rights of the Palestinians in their independent state.