Cairo: Minister of Local Development and Environment Manal Awad directed the upgrading and development of a number of Egypt's natural reserves under the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency's (EEAA) investment plan for fiscal year 2026/2027. Chairing a meeting with senior ministry and EEAA officials, Awad ordered the swift completion of assessments to improve services and infrastructure at protected areas.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the Minister reviewed the agency's new investment plan, which includes projects targeting climate change mitigation, pollution reduction, sustainable management of natural resources, circular economy, green industry, waste management, environmental investment, and afforestation.
Awad instructed officials to prioritize projects under the plan, strengthen coordination among relevant sectors to identify actual needs, and ensure timely implementation through the early preparation of tender documents and technical specifications to meet quarterly targets. She emphasized the importance of supporting climate change units in governorates and providing necessary assistance to local control centers for enhanced monitoring and documentation of climate change impacts.
The Minister approved projects under the air quality improvement program, energy efficiency initiatives in priority areas, and industrial wastewater treatment projects in areas most in need, aiming to reduce industrial discharges into water resources. She further called for accelerating the modernization of several regional branches of the Environmental Affairs Agency and their mobile laboratories, including those in Suez, Luxor, and Sohag, following detailed assessments of their development needs.
Awad also directed officials to develop innovative solutions to challenges facing project implementation and to advance digital transformation by upgrading the agency's information network and electronic systems. The new investment plan includes institutional support programs, completion of the interactive climate change impact map, monitoring of extreme weather events in vulnerable governorates, expansion of air quality monitoring networks, industrial emissions and noise monitoring systems, vehicle emissions testing, coastal and lake water monitoring, marine pollution control, development of the natural reserves network, and other industrial environmental improvement projects.