COP 14 President Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Egypt, with Mirjam de Koning, Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust, winner of the Pathfinder Award
On Saturday morning, the opening plenary of the main proceedings of the UN Biodiversity Conference heard from the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and high-level officials. The afternoon plenary addressed organizational matters, and heard reports and opening statements.
The President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi noted ancient Egypt’s awareness of ecosystems and the dedication of the pharaohs to nature, and stressed Egypt’s constitutional protection for nature and natural resources. Pointing out that the CBD did not manage to fully mobilize the international community to effectively preserve biodiversity due to lack of mainstreaming, he called for integration of CBD objectives across all sectors.
For more details on the day’s events and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily reports, daily web coverage, and a summary and analysis from the 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Franz Dejon
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Egyptian school children perform for COP 14 participants showing the importance of biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
José Octavio Tripp Villanueva, Ambassador of Mexico to Egypt, on behalf of COP 13 Presidency
COP 14 President Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Egypt
View of the spill over room during the opening session of COP 14
Cristiana Paşca Palmer, CBD Executive Secretary
Abdel Fattah Khalil el-Sisi, President of Egypt
A video message by Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the UN General Assembly
L-R: David Cooper, CBD Deputy Executive Secretary; COP 14 President Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Egypt; and Cristiana Paşca Palmer, CBD Executive Secretary
A video message by Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General
Corli Pretorius, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)
Diego Ignacio Moreno, Argentina, for GRULAC
Niall O'Dea, Canada
Gabriele Obermayr, Austria
Elena Makeyeva, Belarus
Video by National Geographic
Coletha Ruhamya, Rwanda
Tatiana Degai, Indigenous Women's Network on Biodiversity
Gadir Lavadenz, CBD Alliance
Hoda Yacoub, International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB)
L-R: Sanda Anjara Rakotomalala and Adina Arth, Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN)
Clare Hamilton, Chair of the Compliance Committee of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Kaspar Sollberger, Chair of the Compliance Committee of the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing
Hamdallah Zedan, Egypt
2018 Midori Prize winners
CBD National Focal Point for Cameroon booth
ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity booth
Egyptian media interviewing COP 14 President Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Egypt