Launch of the National Social Dialogue on Climate Change: In Celebration of World Environment Day 2025 3 June 2025

Your Excellency. Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment,

Distinguished Guests,

Colleagues, and Friends,

It is an honor to join you today in celebrating World Environment Day and launching Egypt’s National Social Dialogue on Climate Change. An initiative that stands as a declaration that those affected by climate change must be central to shaping the response to climate action.

As the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has powerfully reminded us:

“We are not only in danger, but we are also the danger. But we are also the solution.”

This observation holds equally true here in Egypt, where this National Social Dialogue on Climate Change represents Egypt’s frontline response to the climate crisis, driven by the voices and lived experiences of its people.

From advancing Egypt’s Vision 2030 through the National Climate Change Strategy 2050 to hosting COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt demonstrates clear vision and commitment to place climate change agenda at the center of its national sustainable development aspirations.

I take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to Her Excellency Dr. Yasmine Fouad on her appointment as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, a well-deserved recognition of her visionary leadership and Egypt’s growing influence in global environmental governance.

Allow me to extend my deepest appreciation to you, dear Minister, for your unwavering dedication to advancing our shared agenda on environmental sustainability and climate resilience. Your commitment has been instrumental in ensuring that climate action remains not only a national priority, but an integrated pillar of Egypt’s governance architecture, most notably through your leadership of the Climate Change Committee under the auspices of the Prime Minister. 

Your vision for a whole-of-government, whole-of-society response was equally clear in the development of our current Cooperation Framework, where you championed the mainstreaming of climate action not only under the ‘Planet’ outcome, but across the each and every pillar of the Cooperation Framework. 

As a result, we now see a truly system-wide response, one where the social dialogues are not solely the domain of traditional environmental-agencies but reflect the contributions of the wider UN family including FAO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN-Habitat, UN Women, and WFP.

Together, we will be working with national counterparts to engage communities across eight priority themes, from sea level rise and water management to rural resilience, food security, urban development and biodiversity.

We are also bringing forward crucial conversations on the role of women in climate action and how climate change is addressed in education. The dialogues will be reaching 18 governorates[1] ensuring that local priorities are heard, and that climate action in Egypt is shaped by the people it most effects. 

I am very pleased to see Dr. Maguet Osman with us today as our partner in conducting two rounds of the Climate Change Perception Survey, which we see as steppingstone to the social dialogues, engaging communities across the country.

The National Social Dialogue initiative derives its strength from a simple but often overlooked truth: that climate policies formulated in air-conditioned offices will not resolve a crisis unfolding under the blazing sun.

The solutions reside with the Egyptians, with those who experience climate change through lived reality.

What gives us hope is the growing recognition that meaningful solutions must emerge from the grassroots.

Therefore, the findings of the Perception Survey will serve as a foundation for the Dialogue, guiding it from diagnosis to solution, through a collaborative process that draws on Egypt’s collective wisdom and resilience.

The United Nations stands proudly alongside Egypt, not as a leader, nor as an instructor, but as a supporter, amplifier, and partner in scaling efforts already underway. 

As this initiative begins, I am reminded of an ancient Egyptian proverb: “To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.” 

Through this new Dialogue Initiative, we will be listening across Egypt, and we trust that communities will respond with in depth understanding and solutions.

Let us honor those voices and build on the legacy of Sharm El-Sheikh, where Egypt reminded the world that climate justice begins with listening.

Because this is the path forward to a more resilient and sustainable Egypt.  

Thank you.

[1] Alexandria, Assiut, Aswan, Beheira, Beni Suef, Dakahlia, Damietta, Fayoum, Kafr El Sheikh, Luxor, Mansoura, Menya, Port Said, Qena, Red Sea, Sharkia, Sohag, South Sinai.