Madbouli chairs African ministerial meeting in Biological Diversity Conference

CAIRO - 14 November 2018: Egypt’s Prime Minister and Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouli chaired Wednesday, Nov. 14 the African ministerial meeting in the Biological Diversity Conference held in Sharm el-Shiekh.

The conference is held under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and will continue until Nov. 29 with the participation of 196 countries.

Madbouli discussed policies and strategic directions regarding the continent's biodiversity priorities, and focused on the restoration of ecosystems through addressing land degradation, climate change, migration and biodiversity.

The Conference on Biological Diversity, chaired by Egypt, is one of the largest United Nations conferences.

During the conference, Egypt is set to launch an initiative to promote the use of ecosystems, to better handle the shortage in biodiversity, climate change and land degradation.

In the same context, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Monique Barbut said in her speech that ecological crises are linked to food security.

She warned of the bad impact of climate change on a massive area of the world, pointing out that losing agricultural lands causes the loss of 3 percent from the gross domestic product in Africa.

She underlined the necessity of outlining a mechanism for ending this loss and supporting all efforts for restoring the lost lands.

Furthermore, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad underlined the efforts exerted by Egypt to draw up roadmaps that go in harmony with the United Nations agreements.

Additional Report with MENA