Dr Mostafa Tolba chaired the 19th General Assembly Special Session in 1997, which was the five-year review of UNCED. Since 1994 he has concentrated his efforts on the International Center for Environment and Development (ICED) in Cairo.

Dr Tolba’s political career in Egypt began with a position as Undersecretary of State for Higher Education and Minister of Youth. By 1972 he was leading the Egyptian delegation at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. The key role he played on behalf of the developing countries present, and promoting the idea of social as well as physical aspects to environmental problems, meant that he was made Deputy Executive Director of UN body which emerged from Stockholm - the United Nations Environment Program.

Two years later Dr Tolba was made Executive Director, and presided over the valuable work of UNEP, and the environmental conventions it has housed, until 1992. Thereupon he set up the International Center for Environment and Development - a not-for-profit financing organization for environmental projects in less developed countries. It operates through an endowment fund administered by an independent board of trustees.

Dr Tolba also shares his knowledge as Emeritus Professor at Cairo University, where he originally graduated with first class honors in 1943. After completing his PhD at Imperial College, London, he returned to Cairo and became Professor in the Faculty of Science and established his own school in microbiology.

Throughout his career Dr Tolba has received many other commendations, academic and otherwise. In particular he is pleased to have received DSc degrees from Moscow State University, and the University of Guadalajara; DLL, Williams College; fellowship of Imperial College; the Sasakawa Prize; the Only One Earth Award; the Distinguished International Service Award of the Regents of the University of Minnesota; and the First Order Decoration of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Dr Tolba is based in Cairo with his wife, Manal El-Batran.