The International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development Begins at the BA
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Alexandria—
The International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development was inaugurated on Sunday, 10 May 2008 at the BA, attended by almost 250 participants from Egypt and the Arab world. Egyptian Ministers of Environment, Local Development, Agriculture and Electricity; GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson; Chairman of the Egyptian Press Syndicate; and global environmental experts also participated in the Conference, under the auspices of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, Chairperson of the BA Board of Trustees.
Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, read HE Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak’s speech, in which she said: “we need every experience and knowledge to meet the environmental challenges facing us...We must work together locally, regionally and internationally to tackle global environmental problems”. In her speech, HE Mrs. Mubarak referred to poverty, hunger and inequality between communities. She mentioned that almost 40 thousand persons die every day as a result of hunger and malnutrition, at the same time when food prices are rising globally and the rich are burning the food of the poor to produce bio-fuels.
HE Mrs. Mubarak maintained that women are the first victims suffering from global environmental damages. She stressed that women need to be empowered and have access to education and added that scientists, governments and civil society organizations proved that joint action can solve some of the global environmental problems, such as pollution, desertification, deforestation and climate change, which were addressed in Montreal and Kyoto Protocols.
Monique Barbut, GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson, expressed her pleasure to participate in this important international event. She stated that there is an international consensus on the inevitability of joint action to confront climate changes and their disastrous consequences on the whole world including: soil and agricultural development deterioration, scarcity of water resources, rise in sea level and many other natural disasters.
Engineer Maged George, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, stated that Egypt is taking great strides to preserve the environment and to confront climate change issues. He added that climate changes are the result of human actions, and have many serious repercussions. He concluded that the world must join hands to overcome these problems and to reduce greenhouse effects. Egypt lays among the countries most affected by climate change, although it is one of the least countries producing greenhouse effects.
Dr. Mostafa Kamal, International Environmental Expert, said that Egypt is one of the most vulnerable countries to the problems of climate change. The rise of sea level will flood areas in Delta and the Northern Coast in Egypt, and this would lead to the displacement of nearly six million persons, in addition to its impact on agricultural production. He referred to Egypt's role in preserving the environment and to the cooperation between Egypt and the Global Environment Facility in several environmental projects addressing problems of climate change.