Egypt’s Minister of Local Development and Environment Manal Awad and Armenian Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan have discussed ways to strengthen bilateral co-operation in environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.
Awad is participating in the Leaders for Nature summit in Yerevan, Armenia.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Biodiversity Leaders Summit, taking place within the framework of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17).
Talks focused on strengthening co-operation in environmental protection, waste management, biodiversity conservation and protected area management.
Awad outlined Egypt’s efforts in waste management, the extended producer responsibility system, biodiversity conservation and nature reserve management.
The two ministers also discussed shared priorities, including biodiversity protection, the implementation of national strategies and efforts to achieve the global target of protecting 30% of the world’s land and marine areas by 2030.
The talks also covered negotiations on the Cali Fund for Biodiversity, a global financial mechanism designed to support benefit-sharing from the use of genetic resources and help bridge biodiversity financing gaps.
The ministers discussed ways to activate a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries in 2024 to strengthen co-operation in biodiversity conservation, protected area management, waste management, environmental monitoring, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
They also reviewed key issues on the COP17 agenda and ways to achieve meaningful outcomes that strengthen global biodiversity resilience, address challenges such as climate change and desertification, and mobilise funding to support international commitments to nature conservation.
For his part, Matevosyan praised co-operation between the two countries and Egypt’s active participation in international environmental forums, reaffirming Armenia’s commitment to constructive dialogue and collaboration to achieve meaningful outcomes at COP17.
