There are large-scale government efforts to tackle climate change: Egypt is a signatory to the major climate change protocols, and has several government-led initiatives that seek to protect the environment (or at least minimize damage), in a host of areas ranging from energy to waste management to plastic reduction. The Environment Ministry is currently working on a strategy that is meant to curb consumption of single-use plastic bags, and has received a USD 2 mn grant from the European Union to back its research for the plan. The smart policy could even see the government offering EUR 6 mn-worth of subsidies to plastic producers to build new production lines of biodegradable bags to further expedite the move away from single-use plastic.

Anything we say about Egypt’s environmentally friendly policies would not be complete without highlighting our shift to renewable energy sources, particularly with the development of the massive USD 2 bn Benban solar power park. The 37 sqkm park, which will generate 1.5 GW of clean energy once it is fully operational, is set to be inaugurated at the end of the month. The development of the park is part of Egypt’s plans to produce 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2022 and 42% by 2035.

Smaller, grassroots initiatives might be less known, but are also crucial: Several Egyptian startups with environmental mandates have been founded in recent years. Many are affiliated with green tech promoters icecairo and icealex, members of international networks working to promote sustainable entrepreneurship. Others include the Cairo Climate Talks, a monthly Egyptian-German forum that hosts environmental discussions with policymakers around the world. YouthThinkGreen is dedicated to raising youth awareness about the environment and climate change, through educational offerings in and out of school. And several startups, including Mobikya, Up-fuse, and El Nafeza, work to turn waste into usable materials, while online organization Greenish focuses on waste reduction.

And we have a pan-Arab youth movement with similar goals to Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future: The Arab Youth Climate Movement is “working to create a generation-wide movement across the Middle East & North Africa.” It was founded in the lead up to the September 2012 Doha United Nations Climate Change Conference of the parties to the Paris Agreement.

SEKEM is one grassroots organization trying to rehaul the system: SEKEM,which owns the well-known ISIS Organic brand, applies an approach to farming in reclaimed desert land near Cairo that emphasizes zero use of synthetic fertilizers, known as “biodynamic agriculture.” BD emits fewer greenhouse gases and is more likely to lead to carbon soil sequestration, which happens when CO2 is pulled out of the air by the soil. It is similar to organic farming. BD crops have been found to be more resilient to climate change and more energy efficient to grow than their non-organic counterparts.

Using BD to power its group of retail companies isn’t the only thing SEKEM is doing. The organization also maintains a “sustainability balanced scorecard system” which tracks indicators relevant to environmental challenges. It is also engaged on an international level in the UNFCCC climate negotiations, the World Future Council, the UN Global Compact, and the World Economic Forum, and on a national level with local climate change movements and public sector initiatives.

Among the initiatives the country needs to kick into gear is a strategy to promote green transformation recently announced by the government. The strategy, says SEKEM, demonstrates a “remarkable awareness” of sustainability as a driver for competitiveness and future prospects. The strategy is meant to focus on investing in water conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable agricultural practices, eco-tourism, green transportation, waste-to-energy projects, and poverty alleviation programs. According to SEKEM, one NGO that has been instrumental in pushing it forward is the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council.