Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad launched Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy-2050, during a side event as part of the county’s participation in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this week.
Attending the launch, among others, were, Regional Director of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Sustainable Development Department for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Ayat Soliman, and Resident coordinator of Development Programme(UNDP), Egypt, Elena Panova, according to a ministry statement issued in Cairo on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Environment has prepared several meetings with the aim of integrating climate change dimension in the activities of other sectors, including the ministries of planning, finance and international co-operation. The ministry also created Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy-2050.
The strategy will enable Egypt to plan for facing and managing climate change at different levels, besides enhancing efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals in line with Egypt Vision 2030, Fouad said.
This will be realised through a resilient and low-emission approach, effectively addressing the impacts and consequences of climate change, the minister added.
It would also contribute to improving the quality of life of the Egyptian people, as well as realising sustainable economic growth, preserving natural resources and ecosystems, and supporting Egypt’s leading roleat the international level in the field of climate change.
The strategy includes five main objects: Achieving sustainable economic growth through enhancing adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change, and alleviating the associated negative impacts; enhancing climate change action governance; improving infrastructure for financing climate activities; enhancing scientific research, technology transfer, knowledge and public awareness for combating climate change; and increasing awareness on climate change among different stakeholders (policymakers/ decrees, citizens and students), the minister explained.
She noted that a set of policies and tools will be employed for implementing Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy-2050.
For her part, the Regional Director of the WBG’s Sustainable Development Department for MENA Ayat Soliman, commended the Egyptian strategy as being an integrated and comprehensive, with focus on social and economic aspects, government action, finance and scientific research through the earnest leadership of ministry of environment in this issue.
By the same token, the UNDP Resident Coordinator in Egypt reiterated that the strategy was prepared at a record time. She added that the UN will support the implementation of the strategy.
