Egypt launched the “Climate Pioneers Initiative” on Saturday to spread awareness on climate change among university students.
Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar witnessed the signing ceremony of the launch.
In a statement, the environment ministry explained that the initiative comes in cooperation with the Centre of Excellence for Research and Applied Studies of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at the National Research Centre.
Fouad stressed the importance of cooperation with the higher education ministry to qualify university students to understand climate change issues, noting that this programme comes within the framework of Egypt’s hosting of the UN’s Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27) in November.
“We are working to change the traditional view of the environment among young people, not only in issues related to air, water, and noise pollution, but also seek to integrate the concepts of the entire global environment, including climate change, biodiversity, desertification, and other topics,” Fouad said.
She further added that the initiative aims to build national capacities to synergise with the efforts of the state in dealing with the issue of climate change by building the capacities of university youths with scientific knowledge, expanding the climate knowledge base, and linking the initiative’s supporters and graduates with graduation projects and research and applied projects.
The initiative’s programme includes topics such as the concept of climate change, the development of the strategy for climate change, how to confront climate change, the national strategy for climate change, the main axes of adaptation and mitigation and the basic pillars for achieving them, the required areas of research and development, and the priorities of facing climate change in Egypt and the world.
On his part, Abdel Ghaffar emphasised the continuous and permanent cooperation and coordination with the environment ministry in all initiatives and programmes for hosting the COP 27, praising the efforts made by the work team in the two ministries, especially the Centre of Excellence of the National Research Centre, to ensure the success of the conference.
He also stressed the provision of all means of support, whether through Egyptian universities, research centres, institutes, and bodies, pointing out the participation of about 35 Egyptian universities in the COP 26 Climate Conference that was held in Glasgow, UK, last year.
The training programme targets university students between 17 to 35 years old and includes 200 participants in each training course of the programme for those who meet the selection criteria.
