The Ministry of Environment has marked a new chapter in Egypt’s journey of success by offering the world a distinguished representative among its finest experts to support international efforts with her outstanding experience. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the announcement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointing Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Egypt’s Minister of Environment, as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), at the level of UN Under-Secretary-General. The appointment followed consultations with the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.
Dr. Fouad will succeed Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania, to whom the Secretary-General expressed his deep gratitude for his dedicated service and strong commitment to the organization.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad has been serving as Egypt’s Minister of Environment since 2018, leading a transformational shift in the country’s environmental sector by fostering an enabling environment that encourages private sector engagement and integrates environmental sustainability into national investment planning. She brings over 27 years of experience in environmental governance, global environmental issues, and international climate diplomacy. Dr. Fouad has a strong track record in designing and implementing institutional and systematic reforms for sustainable development programs, linking them to environmental challenges at both national and international levels, including climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and transboundary water governance.
On the international level, Dr. Fouad has played a pivotal role in multilateral environmental cooperation. She chaired the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP14) from 2018 to 2021 and served as Ministerial Coordinator and Envoy for the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP27) between 2021 and 2022. She co-led efforts to shape the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and made significant contributions to advancing global initiatives on adaptation, food security, agriculture, and nature-based solutions during COP27. She also led the Presidential Global Initiative connecting the three Rio Conventions, launched during CBD COP14, and continued advocating for the integration of biodiversity and sustainable land management during COP27 and COP28. Additionally, she co-facilitated climate finance negotiations at five COPs, representing the interests of developing countries in partnership with development partners from the Global North.
Regionally, Dr. Fouad contributed to the work of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) in 2015, and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) from 2015 to 2017, in her role as Assistant Minister for Sustainable Development and International and Regional Cooperation. She played a key role in the technical preparation and coordination of the African Adaptation Initiative and the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative. She also co-chaired the Steering Committee for flagship regional programs under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), addressing sustainable land management, desertification, biodiversity, and ecosystem-based climate adaptation.
Academically, Dr. Yasmine Fouad was a visiting scholar at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where she participated in the design of the Center of Excellence for Climate Change Adaptation in Egypt and contributed to policy papers on climate change in the Middle East and North Africa region. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science – Euro-Mediterranean Studies, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science. She is fluent in both Arabic and English.