1st UN Middle East, North Africa climate conference kicks off in Dubai

Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

Egypt's Environment Minister and COP 27 ministerial coordinator and envoy Yasmine Fouad speaks at a climate conference in Dubai, March 28, 2022 (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
Egypt's Environment Minister and COP 27 ministerial coordinator and envoy Yasmine Fouad speaks at a climate conference in Dubai, March 28, 2022 (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

DUBAI — The first-ever United Nations Middle East and North Africa Climate conference kicks off in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with panel discussions featuring the environment ministers of all of Israel’s neighbors — Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria — but not Israel.

Israel is instead represented by Ambassador Gideon Behar, the Foreign Ministry’s special envoy for climate change.

Environment Minister Tamar Zandberg is leading a delegation to an OECD conference in Paris that is also taking place this week, but is fully coordinated with Behar, a ministry spokeswoman says.

The decision to stage several regional environmental conferences was made at the UN’s COP26 environment conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November.

The Middle East will be hosting the next two COP conferences –- Egypt later this year (COP27) and the United Arab Emirates in 2023.

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