Sisi : Egypt attaches importance to biological diversity

CAIRO – 17 November 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi confirmed on Saturday that the Egyptian Constitution has set strong bases for preserving natural resources.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the 14th Biological Diversity Conference,Sisi added that Egypt has outlined a development track that is aimed at achieving sustainable development and social justice at the same time.

He asserted that Egypt is attaching great importance to biological diversity to achieve sustainable development and that that Egypt has been working for preserving its natural resources for the coming generations.

“Egypt is aware of biological diversity based on its value as a basic factor for achieving sustainable development and preserving natural resources for the coming generations”, he said.

“Man since the dawn of history has realized the importance of biological resources and their role in achieving prosperity,” Sisi stated.

Egypt, added the president, will work with all parties to guarantee the success of the conference through achieving its goals atop of which comes preserving the biological diversity on earth.

Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad stated during her speech at the Conference that Sisi is the is the first Egyptian president to attend such an international conference on the Egyptian land

After Egypt received officially the chairmanship of the conference for the coming two years, she added that this dream has been achieved thanks to the president's support for ecological issues to guarantee a clean environmental context for the Egyptian people.

Fouad added that Africa is the most continent enjoying biological diversity.

The Egyptian political leadership will work in the coming two years for getting all parties concerned outline a road map for sustainable development in an effort to stop the deterioration of biological diversity, she added.

She explained that her ministry managed to stop pollution of lakes in Egypt, such as Manzala lake and to preserve the River Nile against pollution.

The conference is scheduled to last for four days; it was preceded by several African ministerial meetings that discussed its work plans.

According to Radi's statement, Egypt is the first Arab and African country to host that conference. "The event is the biggest international conference in the field of preserving ecological and biological diversity," read the statement.

The conference is important for enhancing cooperation and partnership for boosting awareness about the importance of biological diversity, added the spokesman.

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.

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