Egypt's Role towards Sustainable Development and the Environment:
Sustainable development and the Environment are gaining recently increasing attention and a growing momentum in multilateral diplomacy. During The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20), which was held in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the international community renewed its commitment to achieving sustainable development, in an integrated manner between its three dimensions (economic, social and environmental), as well as poverty eradication.
In 2015, various international negotiation processes in the field of Sustainable development and the Environment were concluded including the adoption of the Sendai Framework for disasters and risk reduction in March 2015, the Third United Nations Conference on Financing for Development, which was held in Addis Ababa in July 2015, the Adoption of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015, and finally, the adoption of the Paris Agreement to enhance and promote the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2015.
Egypt has played an important role in all of the previous negotiations processes. Egypt is an active member in various regional groups such as the Group of 77 and China, the Arab Group, and the Group of the Like-minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), and in light of holding the current Presidency of the African Ministers Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), and the Egyptian President being the coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of States and Governments on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), Egypt continues to lead the efforts of the African Continent reiterating the interests of Africa and developing countries and their right to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and poverty eradication, and to stress on the need for developed countries to provide the means of implementation and necessary support in all its forms (financial support and capacity building and transfer of Technology) to enable developing countries to implement their obligations under those agreements, with an emphasis on well-established principles in this regard, especially the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR).
During the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt launched the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), aimed at generating 10 Giga-watts of electricity from renewable sources in Africa by 2020, as well as the African Adaptation Initiative (AAI) to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. The two initiatives received great appreciation from the continent and its international partners.
In addition, Egyptian diplomacy seeks to promote cooperation between Egypt and international partners in various environmental matters, thus contributing to the achievement of sustainable development and poverty eradication, including climate change, new and renewable energy, conservation of biodiversity, combating desertification and land degradation, sound management of chemicals and hazardous waste, combating pollution and improving air quality, solid waste management and recycling.