Egypt Launches National Climate Change Strategy-2050

Egypt's Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad
Egypt's Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad
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Egypt Launches National Climate Change Strategy-2050

Egypt's Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad
Egypt's Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad

Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad launched Wednesday Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy-2050 on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

Attending the announcement event, were, the Regional Director of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Sustainable Development Department for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Ayat Soliman, and Resident Coordinator of UNDP, Egypt, Elena Panova, according to a ministry statement issued in Cairo on Wednesday.

The strategy will enable Egypt to plan for facing and managing climate change at different levels, besides enhancing efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals in line with Egypt Vision 2030, Fouad said.

The strategy includes two stages: The first phase is the general framework that was approved in June and the second is the preparation of the full strategy.

The Egyptian government adopts several approaches that aim to achieve the goals of the National Climate Change Strategy-2050, including ensuring comprehensive planning among various sector and national strategies in addition to merging the procedures related to climate change and sustainability standards in the national planning and budget preparation, said the ministers.

Others include merging climate adaptation in infrastructure projects, benefiting from the available funding options under the umbrella of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and other climate-related sources.

The minister further explained that the strategy seeks to accomplish five goals: Achieving sustainable economic growth, enhancing adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change, enhancing climate change action governance, enhancing scientific research, technology transfer, knowledge, and public awareness for combating climate change, and maximizing energy efficiency.



Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
TT

Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

US President Joe Biden welcomed the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's president on Thursday, saying in a statement that the army chief was the “right leader” for the country.

“President Aoun has my confidence. I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time,” said Biden, adding that Aoun would provide “critical leadership” in overseeing an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.

Aoun's election by Lebanese lawmakers ended a more than two-year vacancy and could mark a step towards lifting the country out of financial meltdown.

“We finally have a president,” Biden said later, at the end of a meeting on the response to major wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles.

He said he had spoken to Aoun by phone on Thursday for “20 minutes to half an hour,” describing the Lebanese leader as a “first-rate guy.”

Biden pledged to continue US support for Lebanon’s security forces, and for Lebanon’s recovery and reconstruction, the White House said in a readout of Biden’s call with Aoun.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Aoun's election “a moment of historic opportunity,” which offered Lebanon a chance to “establish durable peace and stability.”

Aoun, who turned 61 on Friday, faces the difficult task of overseeing the fragile ceasefire with Israel in south Lebanon.

Separately, Biden spoke about the hostage talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“We’re making some real progress,” he told reporters at the White House, adding that he had spoken with US negotiators earlier Thursday.

“I know hope springs eternal, but I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to have a prisoner exchange.”

Biden added: “Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange right now, but I think we may be able to get that done. We need to get it done.”