Egypt’s Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, has said that COP27 was a global platform for Africa to express its legitimate concerns regarding climate change.
During her speech in the first workshop of the African State Councils and Supreme Administrative Courts, entitled “Judicial Trends in Climate Issues”, Fouad expressed her sincere thanks and appreciation for joining a group of African state council members who have a major role in supporting efforts to protect and develop the environment and establish the right to the environment in our African continent.
The Minister of Environment stressed that Egypt’s presidency of the climate conference under the slogan “Together for Implementation” was an important opportunity to raise the African voice on climate change issues and their impact on the continent and our peoples, in light of the stage the continent has reached of clear dangers for all.
She explained that the conference came out with several gains at the African level, in addition to the initiatives that were on the agenda of the political leadership in Africa, the most important of which is the inclusion of the item of losses and damages in the agenda of the conference, which was refused to be included during previous conferences over 30 years, and the exit of the first fund for losses and damages is a real achievement for all of us.
The Minister stressed that the administrative judiciary has a major role in the field of protecting the environment and natural resources, noting that the State Council in Egypt had an important role in the efforts made to protect the environment through the judicial rulings and principles issued by it in this field.
She pointed out that in light of the developments that the world is witnessing, especially from a legal point of view, and the emergence of new legal terms and rules at the international level, especially in the field of international environmental and climate law, we must keep pace with this development, which is an important step that Egypt is currently taking.
Fouad stressed that African countries need to unite efforts and the exchange of visions and legal ideas that help us update our national environmental legislation to keep pace with this development and international developments.
