Egypt’s Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilem participated in the Act to Zero conference on net zero carbon emissions, organized by the American University in Cairo, in cooperation with the Green Building Council in Egypt and the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC).
Fouad confirmed that “net zero carbon emissions” is an important and vital issue related to efforts to confront the effects of climate change, and that the state is concerned with it at the strategic level, which requires the need to search for the most appropriate and best ways to reach it.
The minister pointed out that the launch of the Loss and Damage Fund after a long wait is one of the important gains of the COP27, in addition to the continued momentum around preserving the Earth’s temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius. She noted that the outcomes of the COP27 included integrating the business sector and development institutions in climate action and changing the world development banks’ view of the importance of supporting different countries, and the need to provide financial support to countries to enhance their coping capabilities.
She further added that achieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation is one of the most important points that must be taken into account on our way towards the upcoming COP28, at a time when it is imperative for us to look at the most important and fastest ways to reduce greenhouse emissions in various sectors, including the construction field and the green buildings. We also need to take immediate steps to adapt to the effects of climate change.
The minister also explained the importance of the topics discussed in the conference related to waste management, zero carbon emissions, water waste and sustainable societies, pointing to the steps the state is taking regarding them.
In his speech, the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilem; shed light on the challenges facing the water sector, which are associated with the effects of climate change, explaining that the water needs in Egypt are estimated at twice the available water resources, where part of the large difference between resources and needs is bridged through water reuse or the import of agricultural crops.
He added that the Egyptian state has developed a number of strategies to deal with the impact of climate change at the national level, as the water resources management strategy has given great priority to measures to adapt to climate changes while looking at the dimension of climate change mitigation by working to reduce operational emissions of the elements of the water system.
Sweilem noted that his ministry seeks its projects to be in line with climate change adaptation and mitigation measures as a contribution to achieving the goal of net zero emissions.
