‘Egypt making strides in green energy’

SHARM EL-SHEIKH – As the 4th World Youth Forum is tackling urgent issues of the day, the session ‘From Glasgow to Sharm el-Sheikh: Combating Climate Change’ was greeted with rapt attention.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended the session, in which John Kerry, former US Secretary of State and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Affairs, took part by video link.

Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea commented on the exchange, saying that Egypt is making great strides in the field of green energy.

The minister hailed the presentation by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli during the session, highlighting Egypt’s efforts in this domain.

“President Sisi also confirmed that we working on curbing emissions, even though Egypt is one of the countries producing the least carbon emissions,” Gamea said in an interview with The Egyptian Gazette.

The minister went on to say that Egypt is working on curbing emissions through various steps including the conversion of vehicles to operate on natural gas or electricity.

The presidential rural development initiative, Decent Life, which targets 60 million people, seeks to create a healthy environment in rural areas through robust infrastructure, domestic natural gas supplies, and using refuse to generate energy from biogas,” the minister added.

Gamea spoke of her ministry’s collaboration with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

“Our programme with UNIDO is one of the most important we are working on and we have fixed schedule for it. In 2022, there will great achievements in this regard,” she said.

“The World Youth Forum is unique because this conference has come at a very important time amid the repercussion of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Over 5,000 young people from across the world are participating in the forum, which is a channel to exchange knowledge and expertise,” she added.

The minister pointed out that some beneficiaries from the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) projects and Turathna Exhibition for handecrafts and heritage arts are taking part in the event.

“They were keen to showcase their products and their quality before President Sisi, especially since he is keen to promote handicrafts and women’s empowerment.”