Egypt: Towards a greener economy

The cabinet has agreed to produce guidelines for environmental sustainability standards that will be integrated into the state’s plans for sustainable development, it was announced this week.

Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Al-Said said the announcement brought the country one step closer to its transformation into a green economy. Decrees had been issued for various ministries to form teams to be trained in integrating environmental standards into their projects, she added.

Al-Said said that sustainability standards would be factored in when allocating budgets for projects, with the move accelerating Egypt’s progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and related international commitments and making it one of the first Arab countries to integrate the green economy into the state budget through so-called “green budgeting”.