Egypt: Climate Change Risk Management in Egypt

 

Egypt faces serious risks from climate change. The 15th most populous country in the world, it relies on the Nile for 97% of its water and must import 40% of its food; the supply of both is imperiled by climate change, which also threatens to deepen social inequalities. The aim of the joint programme was to help Egypt align its climate risk management and human development efforts by combining mitigation and adaptation under one Climate Risk Management mechanism, and by paying special attention to the country's vulnerable populations.

Specifically, the programme built the awareness and capacity of key decision makers and development actors to implement pilot projects and to integrate climate change into key policy, regulatory, institutional and operational frameworks.

Its three objectives were: 

  1. Mainstreaming Green House Gas (GHG) mitigation into national policy and investment frameworks, including increased Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) financing opportunities.
  2. Enhancing the country’s capacity to adapt to climate change through adaptation of the water resources and agriculture sectors.
  3. Advocacy and awareness-raising. 

Key achievements included: 

  • The Clean Development Awareness and Promotion Unit was established within the Egyptian Environmental Agency in partnership with the World Bank. The unit created a ‘Vehicle Scrapping and Recycling Programme’ — the first CDM transport project in the world — to reduce CO2 emissions. In 2012, over 40,000 taxis were scrapped and replaced with new energy-efficient cars.
  • The programme contributed to the establishment of the Energy Efficiency Unit (EUU) that advises the Cabinet of Ministers on Energy Efficiency issues. The EEU has initiated market dialogues in three targeted sectors to promote Solar Water Heaters to evaluate various incentive schemes.
  • The Supreme Energy Council developed a national Energy Efficiency roadmap with the support of the programme and the World Bank. A plan to reduce energy consumption in public buildings was approved, and international contracts for Carbon Trading projects were issued.
  • The CDM Awareness and Promotion Unit facilitated the import from Ukraine of an environmentally friendly charcoal kiln as a pilot project to replace old and polluting production methods and as part of the effort to expand the Clean Development Mechanism. 
  • In the Water Sector, the programme supported the modeling of various climate change scenarios. It provided resources to develop the forecasting capacity of the Ministry, including IT materials and training of staff. As a result, long-term forecast analysis of climate change impact on water flows became more accurate.
  • In the Agriculture Sector, the JP supported the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and its affiliated research centers to develop methodological approaches and planning tools, with particular emphasis on zoning and mapping tools. It also supported research activities (mainly concentrating on deficit irrigation) and simulation exercises on the impacts of climate change on key crops.
  • Within the context of the outreach and advocacy strategy, the programme supported the production and screening of a documentary film titled “The Future of Climate Change in Egypt” to increase public awareness on climate change.

 

Click for more detailed results from the Joint Programmes in Egypt.

 

The Joint Programme in action

JOINT PROGRAMME QUICK FACTS

Programme Dates 14 Oct 2008 - 15 Apr 2013
Net funded amount $4,000,000
Participating UN agencies FAO, IFAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNIDO
National partners Supreme Energy Council (SEC) in the Cabinet of Ministers (COM), the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) in the Ministry of State for Environment Affairs (MEA), the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR)
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