Egypt’s Minister of the Environment Yasmine Fouad has discussed with Australian ambassador in Cairo, Axel Wabenhorst, bilateral cooperation in a number of environmental files, especially climate change, biodiversity, ecotourism, waste management and plastic pollution reduction.
During the meeting, the minister drew attention to the important role played by Australia in the Biological Diversity Conference COP15, pointing out that Egypt believes in the necessity of linking climate and biodiversity, and the launch of the nature-based solutions initiative during COP27 to link efforts to confront the effects of climate change with the preservation of biodiversity.
For his part, the Australian ambassador praised the nature-based solutions initiative, and expressed his country’s aspiration for its outcomes, pointing to Australia’s interest in cooperating with Egypt in the field of marine reserves management, and ecotourism as a promising field that achieves the link between climate change and biodiversity, and the use of marine algae in plastic recycling, through cooperating with the Australian scientific research agency CSIOR to find suitable applications, in addition to green hydrogen.
Wabenhorst praised the success of COP27 and its fruitful results, and the signing of a number of Australian companies’ agreements in the field of green energy during the conference.
The Minister of Environment explained the importance of collaboration in the field of plastic recycling research, and in the field of environmental tourism. Fouad referred to a major achievement of the Egyptian government in issuing licenses for the first time for eco-resorts through the Ministry of Tourism, which is a milestone in expanding this type of resort and spreading eco-tourism in Egypt.
The Australian ambassador stressed that ecotourism is a promising area for cooperation between Egypt and Australia as one of the types of tourism that the Australian tourist is interested in, expressing his aspiration to learn more about ecotourism in Egypt.
The two sides also discussed the visions and steps of the Egyptian and Australian governments towards confronting the effects of climate change, reducing emissions and expanding renewable energy. With its continuous efforts in just transition energy, the Australian ambassador affirmed that Egypt will provide a model for the world in the transition to green energy.
