Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad presided over the 15th meeting of the Environmental Protection Fund’s (EPF) Board of Directors, on Tuesday, to address several environmental topics.
During the meeting, the EPF approved the finance for the solar chargers project at Cairo International Airport’s transit halls, with the scheme serving as one of Egypt’s pilot projects in clean energy use.
There will also be display screens placed with these chargers, providing users with an overview of the state of Egypt’s environment and natural reserves.
Also present at the board meeting were: Inas Abu Talib, Executive Chair of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA); Mohamed Salem, the Head of the Nature Protection Sector; representatives from the State Council, and Ministries of Finance, and Planning and Economic Development; as well as representatives from the Environment Police and the federation of non-governmental organisations.
The EPF additionally agreed for the implementation of a study, carried out by the Ministry of Environment’s natural protection sector, related to monitoring the situation of sharks in the country’s waters.
Both the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities are cooperating on the study, after Cabinet directives calling for the study and analysis of possible causes of shark attacks. The review will focus on those places where such accidents were recorded.
It is noteworthy that shark attacks are uncommon in Egypt. In June 2016, a shark attacked a young man swimming 6 km offshore in the popular resort of Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea. Since then, shark attacks have been repeated in different places only every few months.
The EPF was established under Law 4/1994 (amended by Law 9/2009). It provides financial assistance on a competitive basis for projects that benefit the environment, in order to stimulate investment in the environmental sector in Egypt to support the government’s environmental social and economic policies.
