CAIRO – The Egyptian Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aati stressed on Sunday that climate and rising sea levels pose a major threat to a number of world countries, especially coastal ones.
Nile delta is one of the world’s most vulnerable areas when it comes to sea-level rise and this requires working hard to preserve coastal areas from the current and future impact of climate change to preserve the safety of citizens and existing investments there, he said.
Abdel Aati gave the remarks during a meeting dedicated to reviewing the executive status of “Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation in the North Coast of Egypt” project in the presence of a number of ministry officials.
He said the ministry, represented in the Egyptian Authority for Coast Protection, is currently implementing the project to save densely populated low-lying lands in the Nile Delta, the home of 25 percent of the Egyptian population and coastal cities from wetland flooding.
The project is based on the development of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZM) for the North Coast of Egypt that links the plan for shore protection from sea-level rise with the national development plan of the coastal zones. The ICZM plan will be associated with the establishment of a systematic observation system to monitor Oceanographic parameters changes under a changing climate as well as the impact of the different shore protection scenarios on the coastal erosion and shore stability.
The plan is likely to be finalized by the end of 2025.
The project covers five governorates; Port Said, Dameitta, Kafr el Sheikh, Dakahlia and Beheira. It is financed by the Green Climate Fund of the UN Development Program at a total value of 31.4 million dollars.
He said this grant is the biggest of its kind to be received by Egypt in the field of adaptation to climate change.
The project is first implemented in Kafr el Sheikh governorate to protect the international road, Burullus power plant, fishing project in and nearby cultivated lands.
It is implemented along a 27 kilometer area between Burullus power station and Kafr El-Sheikh Industrial Zone.
The Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation in the North Coast of Egypt” project also supports using a dike system stretched over 70 kilometers (43 miles) in the Nile Delta Coast.
