Minister of Environment Dr. Yasmine Fouad held a meeting with Jessika Roswall, European Union Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience, and Competitive Circular Economy, on the sidelines of her participation in the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), held in Nice, France.

The meeting addressed the latest developments in the negotiations for a binding global agreement to reduce plastic pollution, which has become a major global challenge with significant impacts on health, environment, natural resources, and sustainability of life.

Fouad pointed out that there are certain articles that require amendments - most notably Articles 3, 6, and 11 - as they address critical parts of the agreement.

Regarding the article related to financing, she noted that Egypt prefers establishing an independent financing mechanism to support the objectives of the plastic treaty, in order to ease the burden on the Global Environment Facility.

She highlighted that this aligns with the position of both Egypt and the EU on the financing mechanism for the new Global Biodiversity Framework.

Minister Fouad added that launching a new plastic treaty through an independent process requires setting ambitious goals, which in turn necessitates an independent financing mechanism; complemented by both public and private funding.

She expressed Egypt’s concern that financial resources might become a burden on developing countries or be pushed onto the private sector, stressing the need for a shared responsibility approach.