On Tuesday, the Minister of Environment in Egypt, Yasmine Fouad, participated in a meeting to discuss the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) financial plan and strategic vision for the next twenty years.
This meeting was held from 9 to 11 September in Riyadh as part of the 10th Regional Conservation Forum for West Asia. During the meeting, the Minister spoke about the IUCN’s long-term strategic vision and its efforts to use a comprehensive approach to tackle the growing biodiversity crisis and climate change.
She emphasized the need for global cooperation to protect ecosystems, preserve species, and promote sustainable practices by 2030. The Minister highlighted the importance of efforts to enhance nature’s resilience, improve the management of protected areas, and integrate biodiversity considerations into all sectors through policies.
She noted that this vision aims to strike a balance between human needs and environmental sustainability for the well-being of future generations. Fouad also discussed Egypt’s challenges in implementing environmental policies, including economic issues.
She emphasized the government’s efforts to enhance the effectiveness of environmental policies by fostering collaboration between government agencies and civil society, raising ecological awareness, adopting new technologies, and improving monitoring and evaluation systems.
According to Daily News, The Minister mentioned that these challenges affect not only Egypt but all Arab countries and influence the formulation of environmental policies. She pointed out global developments such as climate change, extreme climate crises, biodiversity loss, and desertification, explaining that the rapid pace of ecological crises necessitates a change in the formulation of environmental policies.
Fouad further discussed other challenges affecting the implementation of environmental policies, such as conflicting agendas among stakeholders, including decision-makers, the government, and the private sector. She stressed the need for a consensus-based policy that ensures the sustainability of the environmental financing system at the national level.
