Egypt issues 12 recommendations at Harm Reduction Summit

Egypt wraps first Harm Reduction Summit: Egypt's first Harm Reduction Summit concluded with the issuance of 12 recommendations to mitigate the environmental, social, and health impacts of climate change, according to a statement released last week.

The summit expresses concern over the EU’s CO2 tax, suggests a delay: One recommendation sought to address the potential consequences of the global energy transition on local industries and ways to reduce the harmful repercussions. The recommendation suggested that Egypt lobby the EU to delay the recently approved carbon tax for imports of carbon-emitting products, which is scheduled to come into force by 2026. The first phase of the carbon tax program is already in operation.

Some recommendations targeted education + healthcare: The recommendations included introducing climate mitigation into university curricula, educating the public on the concept, implementing mitigation approaches in various medicinal fields and healthcare practices, and ensuring the sustainability of exports by aligning risk reduction policies with international law.

And there’s more: Other recommendations included increasing recycling for medical and electronic waste, enhancing financing for green projects to improve energy efficiency across industrial sectors, promoting collective efforts to foster a green economy, reducing renewable energy prices to incentivize investors, using EVs to lower pollution by 30-40%, and increasing the number of green cities by boosting green construction.