SwitchMed in Egypt

United Nations 3 years ago

The Egyptian Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan (SCP-NAP) was developed under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment and the Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) under the EU-funded SwitchMed programme, with advisory services and technical support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The plan is part of Egypt’s efforts to achieve Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. The SCP-NAP (SDG12.1) addresses four priority sectors water, energy, agriculture, and municipal solid waste and was developed in Egypt through nationally owned multistakeholder processes. The SCP-NAP for Egypt was officially launched on April 18th, 2016 at a side event during the 6th special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Cairo, Egypt. SCP-NAP demonstration projects: The implementation of the plan is ongoing through selected projects and initiatives. A selection process led by the Ministry of Environment with participation of different government stakeholders and the Projects Steering Committee choose two projects from the list of 28 project proposals of the Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan: reducing plastic bag consumption and mainstreaming sustainable public procurement (SPP). CEDARE was designated by the Ministry of Environment as SwitchMed leading implementing partner for both projects. Reducing plastic bag consumption: Egypt consumes around 12 billion plastic bags annually, which vastly affects humans’ health as well as animal and marine life. The Ministry of Environment, CEDARE and UNEP cooperated with 7 main supermarket chains (Metro, Carrefour, HyperOne, Ragab Sons, Kheir Zaman, Fathalla Market & Al Raya Market) to encourage Egyptians reducing their consumption of plastic bags and to shift towards more environment-friendly alternatives. Sustainable public procurement (SPP): Sustainable public procurement is one of the priorities in the Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan aiming at pointing out the importance of the public sector and government in creating a push and a demand for and from local markets for green and sustainable products. By acting as a role model in creating a mechanism for purchasing sustainable goods and services, other market stakeholders can be directly and indirectly influenced to join in promoting sustainable procurement and purchasing. Several activities were developed in Egypt to allow the country to move ahead in promoting sustainable public procurement practices and foster the switch through concrete actions and tools. For detailed project information please download the factsheets of the demo project.
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layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 8 hours ago



Britain’s sustainable construction agenda is shifting from aspiration to measurable delivery, with regulation, subsidy and data quality now shaping decarbonising the built environment. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has supported a 24% rise in monthly heat-pump installations, strengthening demand for energy-efficient buildings and low carbon building upgrades. Simple, generous incentives are proving effective where net zero carbon policies have often struggled to convert ambition into consumer action.

Planning reform is raising the stakes for environmental sustainability in construction. The Office for Environmental Protection has warned that proposed Environmental Development Plans may not guarantee promised biodiversity gains, underlining the need for credible evidence, green infrastructure and enforceable sustainable building practices. Nature-positive development will need robust lifecycle assessment, sustainable material specification and clear accountability if it is to support genuine sustainable urban development rather than faster consent with weaker scrutiny.

Digital systems are becoming central to whole life carbon performance.

Open data, interoperable workflows and human-led AI are increasingly necessary for whole life carbon assessment, embodied carbon reporting, life cycle cost analysis and building lifecycle performance.

Sustainable building design, low carbon design and eco-design for buildings depend on reliable information from concept through construction and operation. The sector cannot deliver net zero carbon buildings, net zero whole life carbon or credible carbon footprint reduction while data remains locked in proprietary silos.

The next phase of green construction will be judged by evidence on embodied carbon in materials, the carbon footprint of construction, resource efficiency in construction and end-of-life reuse in construction. Low carbon construction materials, low embodied carbon materials, green building materials and environmental product declarations (EPDs) will be essential to circular economy in construction. Circular construction strategies, renewable building materials and life cycle thinking in construction are moving from best practice to commercial necessity as clients, regulators and assessment frameworks such as BREEAM and BREEAM v7 place greater weight on verified outcomes.

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