The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) will hold a coordination meeting ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27), which is set to take place in Egypt as a GECF member country.

The 1st GECF Coordination Meeting will be held via videoconference on Thursday, 15 September.

Being held in Africa, this conference edition of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) increases the expectations to advance on some critical issues under the Paris Agreement framework. The issues under discussion include those related to developing countries, particularly regarding long-term finance, climate ambition, transfer of technology, adaptation, and capacity building.

The planned GECF meeting comes with an aim to brief all member countries on the latest developments regarding the UN climate change negotiating streams, as well as to give a platform for GECF’s 19 members to share their insights and views.

The GECF event will start with the opening remarks of Tarek El Molla, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Mohamed Hamel, the GECF’s Secretary General.

Featured speakers in the GECF meeting will include: Diego Pacheco Balanza, Bolivia Climate Negotiator; Bernd Hackmann, UNFCCC Secretariat; Zarie Zare, Environmental Coordinator of OPEC; Chukwumerije Okerek, IPCC Working Group III; El Molla; Mustafa Amer, GECF Researcher; and Hamza Merabet, Permanent Researcher in Algeria’s Renewable Energy Development Centre.