Minister of Environment Dr. Yasmin Fouad witnessed Thursday the signing ceremony of a ministerial agreement between the Ministry of Environment and Cairo, Giza, Qalyubia governorates to confront climate change and reduce air pollution in the Greater Cairo area. The ceremony was also attended by Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel Aal, Giza Governor Ahmed Rashed, and Qalyubia Governor Abdel Hamid El-Haggan.
That came after the ministries of Environment, Local Development, Health and Population, International Cooperation signed the agreement yesterday, whereby the Ministry of Environment is responsible for comprehensive coordination between all relevant ministries and authorities according to the World Bank loan agreement.
During her speech at the ceremony, Dr. Yasmin Fouad emphasized that tackling air pollution and climate change in Greater Cairo is one of the major projects funded by the World Bank Group and implemented by the Ministry of Environment under the auspices of President El-Sisi.
Fouad also thanked representatives of ministries and governors for providing all available data and information to contribute to the success of the project, which aims to reduce air pollution and environmental degradation costs in Greater Cairo.
Fouad added that the project's development goal is to reduce air and climate emissions from vital sectors and combat air reduction in Greater Cairo, noting that the Ministry of Environment would be responsible for implementing and coordinating with all relevant ministries and authorities.
Moreover, Fouad pointed out that the project has five key elements, which are strengthening the decision-making support system on local air quality, supporting the implementation of plans to manage solid waste in the area, working on reducing the emissions of the public transportation system, and amending public behavior and raise awareness, and managing projects, monitoring, and evaluation.
For his part, Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel Aal asserted that the project is one of the most needed projects in Egypt, adding that the Ministry of Environment has taken proactive steps to implement this project.
Abdel Aal also said that the governorate has begun to take major steps in this regard, including establishing several new cemeteries adopting a new waste management system, and replacing the fleet of the Public Transport Authority with natural gas and electric vehicles.
At the end of the ceremony, representatives from ministries, governors of Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubia, and the head of the Public Transport Authority thanked Dr. Yasmin Fouad for her great efforts and support since the beginning of the project.
Source: Media Department, Cairo Governorate
