WATANI International
9 May 2010
At the annual environment conference in Alexandria, Egyptian executives review efforts at protecting the environment
“The serious threats the environment is facing are growing by the day. Tsunamis and volcanic eruptions are now causing massive human and material losses. Among the sectors suffering most are those of tourism and air transport. Negligence, chaos and the absence of public and government control alike are placing the entire planet in jeopardy”. These were the words of Mustafa al-Fiqi, head of Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, at the inaugural session of the 20th International Conference on the Environment which was recently held in Alexandria under the title “Protecting the environment is a life necessity”. The conference was convened under the auspices of the ministries of environment and irrigation and Alexandria Governorate. Participants included a plethora of Egyptian officials and academics as well as Arab, Turkish and European experts.
Eco-friendly cities
In his speech before the conference, Alexandria governor Adel Labib stressed that protecting the environment is a top priority as far as his governorate is concerned. Before approving any project, he maintained, the governorate’s apparatuses thoroughly investigate it to make sure that it would cause no harm to the environment. “Alexandria is uniquely positioned” as Egypt’s window on the Mediterranean, and the city with one of the most famous libraries the world over. Given such exclusivity, we spare no effort—seeking the assistance of experts of the highest calibre—to confront the most serious challenge facing Alexandria today, that of the rising sea level and coastal erosion caused by global warming.
“We are also about to start a giant project to use garbage to generate biogas, putting an end once and for all to the problem of refuse in Egypt.”
Another city in Egypt is walking the path of eco-friendliness. Luxor governor Samir Farag talked about a project to transform Luxor into an eco-friendly city. General Farag said that the city receives 4.5 million tourists annually. “A project”, he said, “to establish the largest garden in Upper Egypt is underway. It will be implemented in cooperation with China. We are also examining ways of using solar power to undertake Archaeological Survey in Luxor, a project that is expected to have a positive impact on developing the city in accordance with an the environmental perspective.”
Executive coordination
Egypt today has 28 national parks, constituting some 15 per cent of its total area. The target, said Deputy Minister of Environment Mona Gamaleddin, is to assign some 20 per cent of Egypt’s area as 42 national parks in 2017, according to the national plan to protect biodiversity in Egypt.
Dr Gamaleddin briefed the attendants on world efforts to reduce carbon emissions and, since Egypt is a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, a committee has been formed to monitor environmental changes. Some 55 projects, she said, are in the pipeline to reduce carbon emissions.
If efforts to ameliorate the environment are to bear fruit, however, no single executive authority can work on its own, separate from the others. Suzanne Qellini, Parliament information consultant thus indicated that the Environment Ministry is enhancing cooperation with other ministries to reduce greenhouse gases. The Electricity Ministry, she said, is implementing projects to develop renewable energy, while the Agriculture Ministry is establishing labs to measure the effects of climate change on crop production, with a view for producing new strains that would endure high temperatures.
Human responsibility
In conclusion, Samy Guindy, chemist and deputy chairman of the Arab-European Cooperation Centre, said that mankind stood behind most environmental problems. “Most environmental damage,” he said, “is closely related to development practices. We can no more afford to neglect related environmental issues which, since the early days of history, mankind has been dealing with but which have today got out of hand. We have now coined for these issues terms such as biological diversity, desertification, global warming, natural reserves, and renewable energy to signify issues that mankind has been dealing with over the ages. Protecting the environment should be an integral component of sustainable development. There should be deterrent laws against damaging the environment. Children should be taught in school how precious a healthy environment is.”