Giving an overview of the "services" that the environment provides humans with, the talk will focus on the environmental services Egypt has and how their destruction or disruption affects the poorest the most. Looking at some of the figures on poverty in Egypt, we will discuss how these can be tied into decisions that are made on the environment, energy and housing; and how policy-making should and could be incorporating this reality at all levels of Egypt's governance - from the local to the national.

Isabel Bottoms, originally from Wales, came to Egypt to start a research and advocacy project to build a development plan for Egypt for the next 30 years that's both socially just and zero carbon. After arriving she began to establish the Egyptian Center for Economic & Social Rights's Environmental Justice programme, and do some freelance journalism for Mada Masr. Her work has centred around water pollution and energy, particularly the advent of coal in Egypt.