Mostafa Kamal Tolba () (8 December 1922 – 28 March 2016) was an Egyptian scientist who served for seventeen years as the executive director of the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...

(UNEP).

Biography

Mustafa Kamal Tolba was born in the town of Zifta (located in

Gharbia Governorate Gharbia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الغربية ', ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north of the country, south of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, and north of Monufia Governorate. Its capital is Tanta, which is 90 ...

), Tolba graduated from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

in 1943 and obtained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

five years later. He established his own school in

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, ...

at Cairo University's Faculty of Science and also taught at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt. Nomenclature Both University ...

during the 1950s. In addition to his academic career Tolba worked in the Egyptian civil service. After serving briefly as President of the Egyptian Olympic Committee (1971–1972), Tolba led Egypt's delegation to the landmark 1972 Stockholm Conference, which established the United Nations Environment Programme. Tolba became UNEP's Deputy Executive Director immediately after the conference, and two years later was promoted to executive director. During his long tenure (1975–1992), he played a central role in the fight against

ozone depletion Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone lay ...

, which culminated with the Vienna Convention (1985) and the

Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and entered into force ...

(1987). He also was a significant influence in the creation and organization of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ...

. Tolba died on 28 March 2016 in Geneva at the age of 93.

Publications

Tolba's publications include more than 95 papers on

plant pathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, ...

, as well as over 600 statements and articles on the environment.

References

External links

Image of Mostafa Tolba
1922 births 2016 deaths Alumni of Imperial College London Cairo University alumni Cairo University faculty Egyptian biologists Egyptian civil servants Environmental scientists Egyptian microbiologists United Nations Environment Programme Egyptian officials of the United Nations Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Egyptian expatriates in the United Kingdom {{Egypt-scientist-stub