The following is attributable to USAID Spokesperson Jessica Jennings:
Today, USAID Administrator Samantha Power participated in events and meetings at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Administrator Power joined the Director of the National Economic Council of the United States Brian Desse to launch the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) global Call to Action for businesses to make new, significant commitments to building climate resilience in partner countries. The Administrator then met with a U.S. Congressional Delegation attending COP27 and discussed USAID’s climate adaptation work aimed at helping developing countries deal with the impacts of climate shocks impacting their communities today.
Administrator Power joined U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples from around the world for a discussion on the ways that climate change is impacting their communities and how we can deepen our partnership with them in tackling this urgent crisis. The group discussed how to better integrate Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples’ voices and priorities in climate policy making.
Administrator Power then joined U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and other international leaders to discuss the challenges of fertilizer shortages worldwide amidst a global food crisis. The U.S. announced a total of $135 million in new funding for fertilizer efficiency and soil health programs to combat fertilizer shortages and food insecurity. This announcement exceeds President Biden’s Global Fertilizer Challenge goal, set at the June 17 Major Economies Forum, to raise $100 million dollars by COP27 to help low- and middle-income countries address the global fertilizer shortages caused, in part, by Putin’s unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine. The Administrator emphasized USAID’s efforts in sub-Saharan Africa and low-income countries, in particular through the Feed the Future Initiative, to mitigate the global fertilizer shortage as well the potential for future public-private partnerships to mobilize climate finance.