Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called on Friday in his speech to the One Ocean Summit in the French port city of Brest for intensifying international efforts to protect the seas and oceans from negative effects resulting from climate change.
"The international efforts to overcome these effects on the seas and oceans are still not up to the hoped-for level at the present, El-Sisi said in his speech during the high level segment session of the summit, which is taking place in Brest in northwestern France on the Atlantic coast from 9-11 February.
Earlier today, El-Sisi was welcomed by French President Emannuel Macron ahead of attending the summit, which aims to mobilize the world to take action to save the planet's oceans.
El-Sisi's participation in the Brest summit comes in response to the invitation of President Macron in light of Egypt’s vital regional and international role within the framework of efforts seeking to confront climate change and protect the marine environment, according to the Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady.
El-Sisi told the summit that Egypt would seek during its presidency of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is slated to take place in November 2022 in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh, to urge the world to preserve the sustainability and the diversity of marine life.
The COP27, El-Sisi stressed, will witness a constructive dialogue on this issue, with the aim of producing ambitious results and developing initiatives that build on the outcomes of the Third United Nations Ocean Conference, which will be hosted by Portugal in June.
The Sharm El-Sheikh conference aims to formulate actions to mitigate the consequences of climate change on the seas and oceans, and to mobilize the financing that developing countries, and African countries in particular, need to carry out this effort, the Egyptian president noted.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
