Participants of the First MENANEE Conference on Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development Warn Against Environmental Hazards
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Alexandria—
The Proceedings of the Middle East and North Africa Network for Environmental Economics (MENANEE) First Conference on Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development concluded on Thursday, 25 October 2007, at the BA, with the participation of scientists and university professors from all over the world.
In his opening speech, Dr. Walter Anderson, President of World Academy of Art and Science (USA) expressed his admiration of the BA's great achievement during a significantly short period of time.
On the Conference matter, Dr. Anderson stated that questioning the destiny of the Earth is now a pressing matter, referring to the presence of two views on the destiny of Earth and humanity— optimistic and pessimistic.
He added that several problems threaten the environment on Earth including climate change, water, pollution, desertification, and extinction of many living organisms. He mentioned that remote sensing used in monitoring birds, marine and other organisms will witness technical developments to be able to detect the impact of environment on those organisms. He added that science and technology had a major role in discovering many things that were unknown in the past, such as the Ozone layer.
From his side, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, stated that life depends totally on the environment and its implications. He added that 1.2 billion persons do not have access to healthy drinkable water, 1.3 billion persons live in air polluted areas, and that the infant mortality rates are considerably high.
Dr. Serageldin emphasized the right of people to a healthy environment, which will not be attained without preserving the environment. He also shed lights on the fact that countries and governments do not include environmental issues in their national income calculations, a matter that damage the environment and that investing in environment will benefit the humanity at large.
The opening session was followed by two sessions on Biodiversity and Changes in the Ecosystems; Natural Resources and Waste Management; and a roundtable discussion on MENANEE "Network".