Vodafone becomes Principal Communications Partner of COP27

24 / 08 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

Vodafone became the Principal Partner for Communications for is the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) – due to be held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November.

Assistant Foreign Minister Ashraf Ibrahim – the general coordinator of COP27 financial and organizational affairs – signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday with Vodafone Egypt CEO Mohamed Abdallah.

The inking ceremony was attended by the leaderships of the ministries of finance and environment and Vodafone Egypt.

In a press release on Wednesday, the ministry said the MoU highlights the company’s commitment to confronting climate change.

Vodafone’s Abdallah said it is a pride that Egypt will host this international event, therefore Vodafone will be working alongside the Egyptian government to provide advanced telecommunication services connecting the COP27 and its visitors. In addition, the company will demonstrate how digital technology can provide innovative solutions to address climate change, use energy more efficiently, deliver a more circular economy and increase food security.

Vodafone will showcase during COP27 how key digital technologies and services, including the Internet of Things (IoT) can enable society to save energy, support resilient and low carbon cities, and improve the efficiency in sectors, like agriculture and transport.

He noted that Vodafone came at the forefront of companies seeking to achieve sustainable development and has worked out plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

He said the company’s partnering with COP27 falls within the framework of Vodafone’s efforts to support green technology investments in various domains.

He referred to Vodafone’s support for international and local initiatives for confronting climate change, especially in the field of recycling and solar-powered plants.

He noted that the company engaged in a strategic partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Environment and buttressed Egypt’s “Go Green” initiative.

This falls within the context of the company’s continued support for Egypt’s National Strategy for Climate Change 2050.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry – the COP27 President-Designate – welcomed Vodafone as a Principal Partner of COP27.

He highlighted the key role played by heavyweight international companies in supporting world efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Shoukry underscored the contributions already provided by Vodafone on the road to the conference and looked forward to the continuation of this support in order to render COP27 successful as aspired.

For his part, Nick Read, Vodafone Group CEO, said “The COP27 UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is a critical opportunity to accelerate the urgent and sustained action required to address the climate emergency”.

“Vodafone believes business success should not come at a cost to the environment, and our Partnership at COP27 will showcase the role our digital networks and services play in enabling society to address climate change and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

“Vodafone is working to reduce its environmental impact to reach ‘net zero’ carbon emissions across our full value chain by 2040, while helping business customers reduce their own carbon emissions by 350 million tons by 2030. Vodafone is also driving action to reduce device waste and progressing against our target to reuse, resell or recycle 100% of our network waste.”

“As a technology company, our digital solutions and capabilities play a critical role in helping society to mitigate and adapt against climate change impacts. The Internet of Things (IoT) for instance, is key in saving energy, creating cleaner and more efficient communities and enabling sectors such as agriculture to be more efficient and sustainable and we look forward to engaging on this at COP27 so we can accelerate the fight against climate change,” he concluded.