Green Economy and Sustainable Development
The green economy emerged as a response to numerous global crises. It generally aims to achieve economic development by implementing numerous environmentally friendly projects and utilizing new technologies in the fields of renewable and clean energy. It calls for transforming existing sectors into green economies and changing unsustainable consumption patterns. This creates new job opportunities with the goal of reducing poverty, while also reducing energy intensity and resource consumption and production.
There is a complementary relationship between the green economy and sustainable development. The green economy is considered one of the mechanisms for stimulating the global economy and thus achieving sustainable development. This is achieved by creating a kind of integration between economic growth, sustainable development, and environmental protection. This leads to a positive impact of the green economy on economic growth, through increased investments aimed at reducing carbon emissions, increasing energy efficiency, and reducing environmental degradation. Green projects are also expanded through the establishment of new economic development projects focused on the environmental dimension, which contributes to encouraging near-carbon-free activities. This is in addition to developing a strategy for low-carbon industrial development and expanding the use of renewable energy in the industrial sector.
The green economy and clean energy sources are a mechanism for attracting more foreign investment in the renewable energy sector, contributing to achieving sustainable development in Egypt across its four dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and technological. Egypt is among the first countries to attract investments in clean energy (solar and wind) on the African continent, in line with the global pace of mitigating climate change.
It is worth noting that the Golden Triangle contains two new and renewable energy (solar energy) zones in the cities of Qena and Qift. These zones will include solar energy projects using photovoltaic panels, which can generate a total energy capacity of approximately 3 gigawatts per zone. The goal is also to utilize organic farming and modern irrigation methods. The Golden Triangle includes four agricultural zones distributed across the cities of Quseir, Qena, and Qift. The implementation of these proposed measures and policies will enable Egypt to enhance the sustainable competitiveness of the green economy.