Egypt officially assumes the presidency of COP24 from Slovenia

Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment, arrived to participate in the opening session of the 24th Meeting of the Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP24), hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt from December 2nd to 5th, 2025.

Also present were Tatjana Hima, Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme's Mediterranean Action Plan for the Barcelona Convention, and Mitja Prešelj, the current President of the Conference and representative of Slovenia.

In addition, several environment ministers and representatives from 21 Mediterranean countries, parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), and representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme were in attendance.

For his part, Mitja Prešelj, the current President of the Conference and representative of Slovenia, thanked Egypt for hosting the conference, highlighting the efforts being made across three continents to protect the Mediterranean Sea as the only remaining safe haven.

He emphasized that the conference coincided with the United Nations' celebration of the 50th anniversary of the UN Environment Programme's roadmap for action.