CAIRO: Egypt's Minister for Environmental Affairs Mustafa Hussein spoke on the country's regional and international role concerning the environment at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil. He said that as Egypt leads the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and is a vital country for the Group of 77, it wants to see the implementation of international obligations agreed upon initially at the Earth Summit in 1992. The Egyptian delegation participating in the conference was reported by the State Information Services to have held several meetings on the sidelines of the conference in Brazil with environment leaders, politicians and specific countries aimed at boosting bilateral environmental cooperation. “Moreover, the Egyptian delegation participated in some 55 sessions dealing with the issues of water, food safety, climate changes and sustainable development,” the SIS statement said on Sunday. This year's Rio+20 will mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which set the stage for serious sustainable development actions by the international community. Sustainable development emphasizes a holistic, equitable and far-sighted approach to decision-making at all levels. It emphasizes not just strong economic performance but intergenerational equity. It rests on integration and a balanced consideration of social, economic and environmental goals and objectives in both public and private decision-making. The concept of green economy focuses primarily on the intersection between environment and economy. This recalls the 1992 Rio Conference: the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. ** Information from SIS was used in this report.
