14 September 2022; Cairo, Egypt: Today, Microsoft, together with Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its role as Strategic Technology Partner and Principal Sponsor of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27). The United Nations conference, to be hosted in Sharm-El Sheikh on November 6-18, 2022, provides a platform for world leaders, businesses, and citizens to come together to discuss their role in mitigating the climate crisis.
Through the partnership, Microsoft aims to help people and organizations better understand the transformative potential for technology to help solve many of today’s complex climate challenges.
During the signing ceremony held at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices in Cairo, Microsoft Egypt General Manager, Mirna Arif, commented: “We believe in the transformative power of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties and are proud to again play a key role in this year’s event. We applaud the efforts of the Egyptian government, under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in prioritizing climate change as part of Egypt Vision 2030. Technology will provide answers to many of today’s most pressing climate challenges, and COP27 is an opportunity for the public and private sectors to collaborate on climate solutions to accelerate progress in Egypt and across the wider region.”
Microsoft Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith, added, “The world needs to move faster and COP27 will provide an important forum to move from pledges to progress. We are proud to partner with the Egyptian government and support this urgent effort.”
H.E COP27 President-Designate, Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt pointed out that the Egyptian presidency is actively engaging with leading companies like Microsoft and other stakeholders to speed up climate action. Egypt’s government believes in the innovative power of the private sector to tackle climate challenges and in their ability to influence their immediate stakeholders, including suppliers, investors, employers, and partners to make an outsized impact on climate change.
Ambassador Ashraf Ibrahim, General Coordinator for organizational and financial aspects of the conference welcomed Microsoft as a Principal Partner of COP27. He emphasized the important role played by the international private sector in promoting sustainable business models and supporting the agreed climate goals. Ambassador Ashraf Ibrahim highlighted the contributions provided by Microsoft on the road to the conference in Sharm-El-Sheikh and looked forward to the continuation of this support leading up to an impactful COP.
Microsoft is accelerating progress toward a more sustainable future by reducing its environmental footprint, advancing research, helping its customers build sustainable solutions, and advocating for policies that benefit the environment.
In 2020, Microsoft announced an ambitious commitment and detailed plan to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove from the environment all the carbon the company emitted since its founding by 2050. The company has built on this pledge by adding commitments to be water positive by 2030, zero waste by 2030, and to protect ecosystems by developing a Planetary Computer.