We are living in a era of overload, too much info, too much trash on the web, in our brains, too much trash in nature, garbage everywhere, pollution, and not enough wisdom and courage to use our knowledge for more action – not less, in particular when it comes to preserving our strength of being connected. I ask everybody on a more personal level, including myself of course, what do we do on a daily basis to preserve our oceans.

At our EU Delegation, we have a Green Committee, they remind us how we can reduce our environmental impact in our office, for instance addressing the problem of single-use plastic. They explain for instance why Single-Use Plastic is a Problem. Single-use plastics, such as plastic bags, plastic cups and water bottles, are a significant environmental concern. They take centuries to decompose, polluting our land and oceans as well as posing serious health risks for humans. This issue is especially relevant for Egypt, which is a significant contributor to global plastic pollution and critically affects the Nile, and the Mediterranean Sea). Every day in the office, our consumption of single-use food packaging, plastic cups and bottles adds to this challenge. However, small shifts in our habits can make a big difference.

In the EU we look at the full cycle of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, not just from a quality of life perspective but also in terms of competitiveness and resilience, or maritime security We have an ambitious, holistic and forward-looking European Ocean Pact, with concrete actions aiming at the preservation of oceans globally : protecting marine life – strengthening blue economy – supporting coastal communities.

Each of you can decide what is your role in preserving nature, our oceans, our bio diversity: talk about the problem – mobilise people and try to shape policies for politicians to work with. The specific legislation in the EU to reduce plastic pollution did not come falling from the sky. A lot of people are behind such legislation, they know why the use of micro plastic should be reduced. In Egypt as the European Union we work a lot with many partners on waste management, circular economy EU GREEN, EPAP, GSI Green Sustainable Industry and many more), blue economy (SwitchMed) and thankfully we have a new programme coming up led by the Ministry of Environment on sea preservation, eco-tourism and plastic pollution).