Last Friday, Egypt’s Minister of Environment, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, traveled to the Congolese capital, Brazzaville, to attend the Three Basins of Biodiversity Ecosystems and Tropical Forests Summit, representing Egypt on behalf of Egyptian President Abel Fattah El-Sisi.
The Summit took place from October 26 to 28 and brought together heads of state, official delegations, government representatives, international institutions, donors, financing organizations, and experts to strengthen South-South governance for the three regulatory ecosystems, Amazon-Congo-Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia.
The meeting was in attendance of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, chiefs of state from Brazil, Indonesia, and the Central African Republic, as well as representatives from several climate-related organizations and bodies.
According to the minister, leaders from the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia regions gathered to participate in the Three Basins Summit to establish a worldwide alliance. The conference highlighted the importance of protecting biodiversity and tropical forests in the face of climate change.
She also noted that the Summit’s goal is to launch the first worldwide coalition to restore 350 million hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems within the scope of the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration.
These regions alone account for 80% of the world’s tropical forests and two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity, and they play a critical role in carbon balance regulation.
