Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad signed a cooperation agreement with the European Union (EU) to obtain a grant of 4 million Euros within the framework of joint and continuous cooperation between the ministry and the EU in the field of environmental protection and in support of the Egyptian industry ahead of UN Climate Change Conference (COP27).
Fouad – who is also the ministerial
coordinator and envoy of the COP27 – said that the EU grant is a part of the
third phase funding of the Environmental Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP) of
total budget of 145 billion Euros, according to a statement by the ministry
EPAP third phase’s is currently under implementation and provides a mixture of soft loans and grants to encourage public and private industrial enterprises to invest in pollution abatement technologies.
The minister said that EPAP is among the ministry’s largest and most important initiatives that aim to enhance performance of the national industry and achieve compliance with the environmental needs and regulations, in addition to reduce energy and resources consumption to achieve sustainable development ultimately.
She added that the financial grants aimed to transform industrial facilities to the green economy and limit carbon emissions in order to limit the impact of climate change.
The project’s second phase started in 2007 and aimed to decrease pollution in project hot spots in order to improve local and global environmental conditions, as Egypt is suffering from various kinds of pollution.
EPAP is implementing in a partnership between the EU and the European Investment Bank (EIB), French Development Agency and Germany’s KfW Development Bank.
The statement said that the signing came amid the cooperation framework between Egypt’s Ministry of Environment and EU regarding field of protecting environment and supporting the Egyptian Industry.
Fouad said that the initiative is offering technical support to serious companies to adapt the environmental regulations, plus introducing soft loans and grants to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) up to 30% from the total budget of the company’s implemented project.
Source: Al-Ahram
Online
