Dr. Yasmine Fouad, the Egyptian Minister of Environment, announced the winning of the city of Al Kharga in the Governorate of El Wadi El Gedeed as the capital of the Arab Environment for the year 2022 in the competition held by the Technical Committee of the Arab Council of Ministers of Environment responsible for environmental affairs at the 32nd on behalf of the Arab Nation, which many countries took part in.
The Minister of Environment assured that the winning of the city of Kharga is a direct reflection of General Mohamed Salman El Zamaloot, the Governor of El Wadi El Gedeed’s efforts and programs in merging environmental protection and climate change in the development plans of the governorate. Moreover, its success in the competition through applying the environmental aspects compared to the rest of the Egyptian and the Arab opponents reflects the Egyptian Vision of protecting the environment, especially in the light of Egypt hosting the 27th Conference of the Parties next month to support environmental protection worldwide from climate change effects.
The Minister of Environment: the decision reflects the country’s direction to protect the environment and its sustainability.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad has also praised the intelligence and remarkable leadership of the governorate of El Wadi El Gedeed, represented by Governor Mohamed El Zamaloot and all the leading persons of the governorate, as well as the citizens of the governorate themselves that set an unmatchable example in their connection to nature and their positive attitude to protect the environment and the sustainable investment in its resources.
The Minister of Environment also weighed on the role of the local community within the city and the connection of the citizens in the winning of the title, stating the enormous environmental awareness of the citizens of El Wadi El Gedeed which is reflected in their lifestyles built on the perfect use of the available resources and the new methods of recycling waste. These lifestyle practices reflect their thoughts on sustainability and natural resources preservation, which made it the first environmentally friendly city in the Arab Republic of Egypt this year.
Dr. Yasmine explained that the task force at the ministry reviewed the environmental sustainability standards within the city and investigated all procedures to monitor the quality of parameters in the city including the quality of air, water, and noise levels as well as the solar power, sustainable transport, waste recycling, and more green projects within the city. Upon concluding the investigation, the committee decided that the environmental situation of the city qualifies it to be the first environmentally and climate-friendly city in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Its announcement took place in the celebrations of World Environment Day this previous June. Moreover, national discussion sessions centered around climate change and sustainable development took place in both the cities of el Kharga and el Dakhla with the attendance of representatives of every sector of the community from governmental and nongovernmental parties and women and youth representatives.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment of Egypt: Al Kharga has become an Arab icon in environmental protection and a replicable example to demonstrate the implementation of environmental protection.
The minister of environment stated that the city of El Kharga participated in the competition as it was able to achieve a large group of standards and environmental aspects which achieve the sustainable development aspects. The achievement of the city to be able to earn the title of the Arab Environment Capital for 202 allows it to become an Arab icon of environmental protection that can be replicated within the region as an implementation example of environmental protection in partnerships with local, Arab, and regional companies.
The Minister has also stated that not just the city of Kharga, but the whole governorate of El Wadi El Gedeed has beautiful nature that can be invested in as environmental tourism that would stand out between aquatic tourism with coral reefs. She has stated that the private sector can intervene and invest in this place through building hotels from natural materials and establishing tourism of a different kind based on the sand dunes and the relaxing environment away from the cities, noise, and technology.
The Minister also added that the governorate can be invested in through new renewable energy projects, especially solar power plants, that could be used in reforesting lands and providing well water, as she believes interlinking energy and water and food security is a great idea that would help combat the effects of climate change.
The Minister expressed her extreme gratitude towards the technical committee and the judging committee of the competition for their efforts in applying the standards of environmental protection and achieving sustainable development
