Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad headed to Nairobi, Kenya, to participate in the second part of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), according to a statement by the ministry.
The meeting is being held under the theme ‘Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’ in the presence of representatives of 193 member states of the UN, companies, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders to agree on policies to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
Fouad explained that the second part of the session will discuss the extent to which actions for nature are strengthened to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by focusing on the pivotal role that the environment plays in our lives and in sustainable social, economic, and environmental development.
The meeting also comes to affirm that the environment is the main element to achieve the ambitions of the 2030 agenda adopted by all UN member states in 2015 to end poverty and conflict, build just and inclusive societies, and ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources.
Moreover, Fouad stressed the importance of environmental issues to which Egypt contributed to solving through its presidency of the 14th Conference on Biological Diversity and its preparation of the draft roadmap for the post-2020 period before handing over the presidency to China last October.
The minister added that a number of topics will be discussed in the ministerial meetings, including waste and chemicals management, green economy issues, biodiversity, and the role of nature in achieving sustainable development, as well as climate change issues.
On the side-lines of the session’s meetings, Fouad will hold a series of bilateral meetings with her counterparts to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation and prepare for the COP 27, which is scheduled to be held in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh in November.
