The winners of this year's environment competition were named at a recent ceremony in Cairo, amid announcements of projects intended to reduce pollution and protect the environment, reports Mahmoud Bakr "Our planet is screaming for help. Let us unite to combat climate change" was the slogan adopted for the Science and Environment Forum by the minister of state for environmental affairs, Maged George, to mark Environment Day on 25 June. During a ceremony held on the day, the winners of an environment competition held by the ministry every year received their prizes, with Mawaheb Abul-Azm, chairman of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, and Hoda El-Shayeb, head of the training department at the Agency, receiving their awards. In his speech, George reaffirmed that the environmental dimension of sustainable development was as important as the economic and the social dimensions, adding that a comprehensive vision, together with clear-cut policies and national programmes, constituted an indispensable part of sustaining Egypt's natural resources. "A number of projects to a value of LE1 billion are now being carried out within the Air Improvement Programme that is intended to reduce industrial pollution in some of Cairo's and Alexandria's worst-polluted areas," George said. "There are also other measures being taken concerning industrial-pollution reduction projects in Upper Egypt and the Nile Delta at a cost of LE400 million." George also highlighted a national plan to relocate polluting small and medium-sized enterprises out of residential zones across the country, which is being carried out at a cost of LE350 million. Greater attention has lately been given to the transportation sector in an attempt to reduce vehicle exhaust. Some LE3.1 billion has been allocated to replace obsolete and out-of-date taxis with new vehicles, while at the same time expanding the use of natural gas as an environment-friendly fuel source. "Over the coming years, a comprehensive waste-management plan will be upgraded and subsidised by the government. Moreover, projects aimed at recycling agricultural waste will be given priority. These measures, and others like them, are part of a comprehensive plan to combat the sources of atmospheric pollution," George said. Regarding water pollution, George underlined the fact that a national plan consisting of 12 separate programmes is being carried out in cooperation with the ministries concerned in order to control industrial waste from some 82 factories that is responsible for around 98 per cent of the direct and indirect industrial waste in the Nile. Such waste has been estimated to represent some 856.4 billion cubic metres of material discharged into the Nile each year, turning Egypt's source of life into one of the worst polluted rivers in the world. Greater attention is also being given to expanding the use of new and renewable energy as a means towards curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, clean development projects are being implemented, which will help to improve the environment, while at the same time creating jobs. The National Authority for Clean Development has recently approved 52 projects in the energy, industry, transport and waste-management sectors that will be carried out at a cost of $1.3 billion. "Five of these projects have already been implemented," George said, adding that "the rest are in the implementation stages."
