Egypt has signed with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) an agreement for the implementation of a project for “Climate Change Adaptation in the North Coast and the Nile Delta in Egypt”.
The project, worth USD 31 million, is funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and aims to implement coastal protection measures in five governorates of the North Delta.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli witnessed the signing ceremony. Present were Mohamed Abdel Aty, Minister of Water and Irrigation; Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment; and Richard Dictus, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative. The project document was signed by Hany Selim, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Cooperation for Development; Ragab Abdul Azim, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation; and Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Country Director in Egypt.
The Prime Minister said that the project benefited from international financing tools available to support developing countries in reducing the negative impacts of climate change. Dr Abdel Aty said this was the largest grant obtained by Egypt in the field of climate change adaptation. It aims to reduce coastal flooding caused by the expected rise in sea level and extreme weather conditions in the north of Egypt. The Egypt governorates benefiting from the project are: Port Said, Damietta, Daqahliya, Kafr al-Sheikh and Beheira. He added that the coastal protection systems, which will be implemented by the Shore Protection Authority, will provide protection for 70-km low-lying coastal areas along the Nile Delta Coast.
Furthermore, the project will develop a national observation system and an early warning system to monitor change in climate and sea levels. The project will also provide the technical support needed to develop an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) plan for the North Coast, in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and in consultation with all the stakeholders in the coastal areas.
For his part, Mr Dictus explained that the new project builds on the successful partnership between UNDP and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation during the first phase of coastal protection, which was funded by the Global Environment Fund, and which involved pilot projects to test the effectiveness of some low-cost and innovative coastal protection systems. Work on the new project should start before the end of this year.
Watani International
6 October 2018