Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad has highlighted the importance of the initiative set out by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to achieve integration between the three Rio conventions.
The three conventions are namely: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Al-Sisi’s initiative was supported by the 17th AMCEN conference held in South Africa in 2019.
Finance and technology transfer are needed to achieve the commitments made by developed countries to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, according to the minister.
“We urgently need to find a way to fulfil the $100bn commitment, and to find sustainable financing mechanisms that are consistent with the requirements of developing countries,” she said.
The minister’s remarks came during her speech before the ministerial segment of the eighth extraordinary session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). At the event, which took place via video conference on Sunday, Fouad noted that the pandemic has changed the lives of millions around the world.
She added that the world needs to take into account sustainable development agreements, biological diversity, climate change, and desertification when dealing with the environment.
This comes especially within plans for the economic recovery from the repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
She further praised the AMCEN’s role in holding the conference at COP14 which took place in Egypt in 2018, through close and constructive cooperation between all African countries.
The minister highlighted the importance that the upcoming COP15 conference, which will be held in China in 2021, will have. It includes further commitments on the part of its participants, and meets the requirements of developing countries. The conference includes sectors concerned with biological diversity, whether directly or indirectly.
Fouad praised the distinguished work of the African group of negotiators for biodiversity, which was keen to include and take into account the continent’s concerns and requirements.
