President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held a meeting on Wednesday with United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner, said Spokesman for the Presidency Alaa Yousef.

Present at the meeting were Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
Egypt pays great attention to the sector of renewable energy and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, President Sisi said during the meeting.

Sisi called for providing the necessary support from the developed countries to facilitate the African countries' dependence of renewable energy.

Sisi praised a stance by the Group of 7 in support of the first phase of renewable energy initiative in Africa.
He urged turning such stances into action and providing financial and technical support to African countries for developing the energy sector.
The Egyptian side will exert utmost efforts to reach a new deal on climate change binding for all parties during Paris conference, Sisi said.

He noted that the new deal should be based on the principle of common responsibility that differentiates in burdens, taking into account the middle-income and least developed countries, to which several African countries belong to.

Egypt will work to bridge the gap between the developed and developing countries, Sisi said.

Steiner hailed as important role played by Egypt to bridge the gap between the major and African countries.

He voiced hope that Egypt could play a pivotal role during the UN climate change conference in Paris later this year.