Ead, H., Kapiel, T. (2022). Mostafa Kamal Tolba, Egyptian Scientist, Environmental Expert, and the Founder of Environmental Diplomacy (1922 – 2016). Egyptian Journal of Botany, 62(3), 595-610. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2022.136833.1983
Hamed Ead; Tarek Y.S. Kapiel. "Mostafa Kamal Tolba, Egyptian Scientist, Environmental Expert, and the Founder of Environmental Diplomacy (1922 – 2016)". Egyptian Journal of Botany, 62, 3, 2022, 595-610. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2022.136833.1983
Ead, H., Kapiel, T. (2022). 'Mostafa Kamal Tolba, Egyptian Scientist, Environmental Expert, and the Founder of Environmental Diplomacy (1922 – 2016)', Egyptian Journal of Botany, 62(3), pp. 595-610. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2022.136833.1983
Ead, H., Kapiel, T. Mostafa Kamal Tolba, Egyptian Scientist, Environmental Expert, and the Founder of Environmental Diplomacy (1922 – 2016). Egyptian Journal of Botany, 2022; 62(3): 595-610. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2022.136833.1983
Mostafa Kamal Tolba, Egyptian Scientist, Environmental Expert, and the Founder of Environmental Diplomacy (1922 – 2016)
1Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
2Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Abstract
THE YEAR 2022 marks the birth centenary of Mostafa Kamal Tolba, a United Nations official considered the father of the Montreal Protocol, an agreement intended to protect the ozone layer. The Montreal Protocol is widely known as a section of the world’s most successful environmental treaty. Dr. Tolba was born on December 8, 1922 and died in Geneva on March 28, 2016. He was a professor and chief scientist. He is an outstanding Egyptian scholar whose brilliant letters in the environmental domain are remembered by the Eastern and Western world. He held senior academic and political positions in Egypt and was enumerated by all international fora as the founder of the concept of environmental diplomacy. He performed official duties in the Ministry of Youth and Telecommunications. Regionally, he was the first president of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development. He was also designated Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) for 17 years. The Egyptian-born Dr. Tolba was praised for his leadership in steering the earlier Vienna Convention in addition to his groundbreaking work on the Montreal Protocol. He belonged to a generation of international civil servants who effectively led international organizations and programs and were also able to change international policymaking. However, his strong and impressive legacy continues to be disseminated through the UNEP’s work and the tasks accomplished by ministries of the environment worldwide. This paper highlights the crucial roles discharged by Dr. Tolba as a university professor and as a global administrator of a dossier of urgent interest. His work affected and continues to impact the global environment, especially climate change.