Waste Management Regulation Law
In 2020, Egypt published in its Official Gazette the Egyptian Law No.202 of 2020, promulgating the Waste Management Regulation Law. The legislation is divided into six books: the General Provisions, the Body (Waste Management Regulatory Body), General Policies and Obligations, Non-hazardous waste, Hazardous materials and waste, and Penalties.
In Book One the Law established the meaning of 44 terms, including the definition of waste as damaged materials, objects or movables abandoned by their holder, whether they can be recycled or must be disposed of. Further, it establishes the definition for Integrated Municipal Waste Management Units, an entity established through this Law, made responsible for the integrated management of municipal waste, among other terms.
One of the main achievements of this law is the establishment of the Waste Management Body, developed in Book Two, which aims to “regulate, follow up, monitor, evaluate, and develop everything relating to integrated waste management activities” as well as to monitor their implementation in cooperation with diverse state and non-state actors (Article 4, Law No. 202).
This body, as set in Article 5, is in charge of undertaking all necessary actions and works to achieve its objectives. Some of the concrete actions the Law provides are the establishment of a national system for managing waste information data (Article 5.2), the determination of the geographical scope of integrated municipal waste management service areas (Article 5.4) and the oversight of integrated waste management activities.
Book Three makes substantial progress, particularly in Article 27, which requires that the manufacturing, importing and exporting of single-use plastic bags should be in accordance with the requirements established by the Law, as well as the power to prohibit them if they do not comply with the controls.
In the sections from Book Four and Book Five, the Law sets the standards and controls for Non-Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Materials. Book Six establishes the penalties for the breach of the regulations imposed by the Law, which aim to ensure that the requirements are met.
Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation in the North Coast of Egypt
This initiative implements the construction of 69 km of sand dune dikes across priority hot spots most severely affected by and vulnerable to sea-level rise and extreme storms in Egypt. The project targets the densely populated low-lying lands of the Nile Delta which is a large river delta situated in northern Egypt surrounded by some of the driest deserts in the world. The Nile Delta is about 175 km long, spanning from Cairo to the Mediterranean Sea, with about 260 km of width along the coast. The low-lying lands of the Mediterranean-facing Nile Delta consists of a 50-km-wide strip that sits not even 2 metres above sea level.
Although this strip only covers about 2% of Egypt’s total landmass, roughly 41% of Egypt’s population lives in this zone and over 60% of its agricultural land is hosted here. This policy therefore will expand the low-cost dike system, which are a type of nature-based coastal defence that combines natural or engineered sand dunes with rigid, man-made dikes usually consisting of the natural dunes as the first line of defence absorbing energy from storms and high sea levels and engineered dikes which provide additional support for inland areas to remain safe. Dune-dike systems are increasingly recognised for their potential but remain rare at large scales.
Dikes can protect shorelines from severe flooding but are prone to erosion, whereas sand dunes absorb wave energy and offer ecological and aesthetic benefits, a nature-based solution that functions to preserve coastal areas. Sea-level rise still threatens traditional, rigid structures, but the combined dune-dike system can naturally adapt to changing environmental conditions since dunes are made of sand, as well as providing essential habitats for animal and plant life. The 7-year project from 2018-2025 functions to expand the use of these dune-dike systems to prevent flooding of vulnerable low-lying lands from sea surges during extreme weather. The project remains in progress, with a planned completion date of 30 November 2026.
The system was initially tested under the Global Environment Facility Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) project and will also support developing the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZM) in order to link the national development plan of coastal zones with the plan for shore protection. The ICZM will establish an observation system to monitor changes in the climate using oceanographic parameters and the impact of different shore protection scenarios, shifting from a reactive to proactive approach to coastal protection. The hot spots this policy will address include Kafr El-Sheikh, Beheira, Port Said, Dakahlia, and Damietta.
This policy has been implemented by blending nature-based engineering with multi-ministerial planning, aiming to protect the densely populated low-lying lands in the Nile Delta identified as highly vulnerable to sea level rise. A GCF grant of USD 31.4 million, plus USD 73.8 million in co-financing from the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation allows for implementation.
Sea-level rise will have devastating impacts on Egypt’s infrastructure and development along low coastal lands. The Nile Delta is among the top three most vulnerable regions in the world; a one metre rise in sea level is expected to submerge 20% of the area by the end of the 21st century, making this policy particularly relevant to the climatic challenge of sea level rise and coastal erosion. Agriculture contributes to one-fifth of the workforce in Egypt, 12% of its GDP, and much of its food supply, putting it at the forefront of Egypt’s climate priorities.
The low-cost natural dikes that have been constructed as a result of this policy have had direct economic effects on communities at risk; fisherman Aziz Lasheen from Kafr El-Sheikh reported that his income would drop by 70% every winter out of fear of going to work due to the rising water. Since then, surging waters have been kept away from his village during the more frequently occurring violent storms across the coast. Although extreme events continued to occur during the winters between 2016-2018, water has not penetrated the sand fences and no erosion has been seen where the dikes have been placed. The dikes passed the test during one of the most severe wind and rain storms in December 2020.
On the other hand, sea levels continue to rise and although this project has been effective in mitigating the effects, the root cause remains unsolved. Environmentally, the project has supported re-vegetation, wetland restoration, and establishing conservation zones to protect habitats along the coast. Since the dikes are made of a combination of reed fences and local vegetation, materials that would normally be discarded are reused. This project has immense social effects, generating local jobs and strengthening the institutional capacity to expand projects like these as this is the first strategic plan to target the entire coastline.
Leading this policy and the ICZM has boosted Fouad’s domestic standing by securing the Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding in order, supporting her image as an effective policymaker as well as using her technical expertise and positioning to push forth an effective and transformative project. This project was launched prior to her transition to the UNCCD, therefore this project likely boosted her reputation as Minister to transition her to her current role. Her role in translating coastal management theory into nature based solutions gave Fouad visibility on the global stage as well as recognition for food security as a climate priority, in climate damage financing, and for science-driven policy and crisis preparedness. She has been recognised under the Top 50 Women Forum for these achievements, making her work for this policy beneficial to her political capital.
Decision 25/COP 16, Decision 27/COP 16, Decision 28/COP 16
Shortly before Fouad joined the UNCCD, the parties to the UN agency adopted three key Decisions tackling gender data gap, sand and dust storm mitigation and land tenure. Even though Fouad was not yet the Executive Secretary, she has been part of the implementation and monitoring plan of these decisions. Furthermore, looking at the UNCCD COP 17 (17 to 28 August 2026), Fouad has already visited the host country, Mongolia, which has established the theme for this year’s conference: “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”. As announced by the UN, Fouad has met with multiple senior government officials and international stakeholders to strengthen cooperation as well as monitor whether the proposals are being implemented.
During the 16th UNCCD Conference of Parties, the Parties adopted Decision 25 which recognises that the active involvement of women in land management is essential for addressing desertification, land degradation and drought, and achieving land degradation neutrality; Decision 27, where they highlighted that desertification, land degradation and drought have increased the frequency, intensity, and duration of sand and dust storms over the last decade; and Decision 28, which recognises that tenure insecurity remains a significant development challenge for many countries.
Decision 25 encourages parties to tackle the gender data gap by collecting sex-disaggregated data through their national statistics on income, poverty levels, land ownership, migration, school enrolment, prevalence of illnesses, and other types of relevant data. It also encourages the implementation of the Gender Action Plan, to address the discrimination that women face when planning, designing, and implementing gender-responsive policies in relation to desertification.
Furthermore, this Decision requests the Global Mechanism to identify and apply means of further facilitating the capacity-building and effective participation of women delegates, including from Indigenous Peoples, local communities and civil society organisations, with the purpose of increasing the number of women delegates attending and effectively participating in the meetings and processes of the UNCCD.
Decision 27 urges parties to enhance the integration of sand and dust storm mitigation measures linked to desertification, land degradation, and drought, with a particular focus on minorities. Moreover, it requests the secretariat and the Global Mechanism to continue actively participating in the UN Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms to enhance cooperation between the multiple UN agencies; to develop a comprehensive inventory of existing sand and dust-related tools and technologies, in order to make information available to member states and parties; as well as continue supporting countries, regions and subregions to develop strategies and financial projects. This decision also invites the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, the regional and multilateral financial institutions, technical agencies and organisations to provide affected parties with the technical and financial support to design and implement policies and actions plans to cope with sand and dust storms linked to desertification, land degradation and drought, and achieve their voluntary land degradation neutrality targets.
Thirdly, Decision 28 encourages parties to continue integrating land tenure security. Notably, it requests Parties to build on the business case and implement the tenure checklist to identify financing opportunities through public and private investments; conduct awareness-raising action on responsible land governance for combating desertification, land degradation, and drought in order to reach stakeholders from global to local levels and improve the livelihood of vulnerable groups.
The three decisions were published in December 2024, and all of them requested a report on policy issues relevant to this decision and to be presented at COP 17. An advanced copy of this report has already been published, which is discussed in the Impact section.
IE x RAIA Summer Research Programme:
This article is an excerpt from a report on Yasmine Fouad produced as part of a RAIA research programme on climate leaders. For a full picture of Fouad’s climate leadership, including the sources, read the full report. This project was fully financed by IE University’s School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs and School of Science and Technology.
Authors: Lucía Sobrado Louzao, Alicia Hidalgo Gonzalez & Daniela Bermudez Bolivar
Editor: Francia Morales
Project Lead: Dario Hasenstab
