Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Wednesday that key industries including energy and health are contributing to biodiversity loss in several countries around the world.

"The energy, mining, infrastructure, industry, and health sectors depend on the biodiversity and services provided by their associated ecosystems, but are meanwhile directly or indirectly affecting these systems through the loss or fragmentation of environments and the disruption of reproduction and migration routes of certain species," Madbouly said.

He was addressing a two-day ministerial summit of African environment ministers that began on Wednesday in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh as part of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 14), which runs in from 13 to 29 November.

The ministerial gathering aims to promote mainstreaming of biodiversity in multiple sectors, including energy and mining, processing industry, infrastructure and health.

Mabdouly said waste produced by these sectors cause soil, air and water pollution, negatively affecting basic materials these sectors rely on and thus impacting their sustainability.

Madbouly called on governments across the continent to work towards minimizing the negative impact of urban growth on biodiversity by adopting measures including spatial planning, urban planning, strategic environmental assessment, and fostering climate change adaptation plans.

Egypt is the first Arab and African country to host the Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 14).