Egypt joins hands with UNDP to turn Sharm El Sheikh “green”

01 / 08 / 2019

By Marwa Nassar - -

Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh is turning “green.” The city will start with ditching the use of Plastic bags in line with a UK drive to curb plastic waste, particularly through replacing plastic bags with eco-friendly bags made of paper or cloth.

The UK announced on Wednesday a 90 percent drop in plastic bag use in about four years. The UK spearheaded the drive as statistics showed that around 13 million tons of plastics leak into oceans every year, killing about 100,000 marine mammals every year at the global level.

The Red Sea governorate will work on disseminating awareness among people on the dangers of using plastic bags in view of their harmful impact on marine creatures.

The governorate will distribute bags made of paper and cloth at facilities and among citizens to encourage them to take the step so that the governorate will gradually get rid of plastic bags in line with the Environment Ministry’s plan.

Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said Egypt is cooperating with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to turn Sharm El Sheikh into a “green city.”

The two sides agreed to join hands to build environment-friendly houses in Gharqana village of Nabq Protectorate within the framework of “Decent Life” Initiative.

Handicraft workshops will be established for people to find work away from fishing – which a main source of income in this area, she said, underlining the importance of halting overfishing in this area.