Egypt to actively participate in 2015 Paris Climate Conference

Egypt will actively participate in 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), which will kick off on Monday, with the participation of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi along with more than 140 world leaders.

Egypt is the current head of the African Union climate change committee, and as such will represent African countries’ interests in the Paris conference.

Sisi will also chair the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).

The Egyptian president is also scheduled to deliver a speech on the behalf of the African countries to express their support for achieving an agreement on climate change that takes into account the rights of all sides.

Egypt will also express the demands of the African countries and their right to obtain funds and the necessary technical experience to help them shift toward a green economy and sustainable development and bridge the funding gap, which they face until 2020 in order to adapt with climate changes.

Egypt will further garner international support to the initiatives of renewable energy in Africa and adaptation with climate change, which were launched during CAHOSCC meetings that were held on the sidelines of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

Sisi will also participate in a meeting on the climate change challenges led by French President Francois Hollande to exchange viewpoints on climate change, with a particular focus on the reliance on new energy in Africa.

The conference, which will be opened by the French president, will attempt to craft a long-term deal to limit carbon emissions and hammer out a comprehensive, balanced and ambitious deal to address climate change. About 40,000 people are expected to participate in the conference, which runs until December 11.

World leaders including US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also attending the conference.

The summit will open in the French capital just two weeks after a coordinated massacre by Daesh terrorist group of about 130 people out for dinner, drinks and a concert on a Friday night.

France has dedicated 2,800 police and gendarmes to ensuring the security of the summit venue at Le Bourget, on the northern outskirts of Paris. A further 8,000 officers have been deployed to secure the country's borders. Altogether 120,000 police and gendarmes have been mobilized across France, according to the French Interior Ministry.

The government had announced at the beginning of the month that border controls would be imposed ahead of COP21 -- in what French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve then called a precaution against "a terrorist threat or risk to public order."