CAIRO– Egyptian Irrigation Minister Hany Suwailam has stressed the importance of co-operation with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to implement a climate adaptation project in Egypt’s Northern Coast and Nile Delta regions.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and UNDP have offered a grant worth 31.4 million dollars to bankroll the project, Suwailam said.
He was speaking during a meeting with UNDP resident representative to Egypt Alessandro Fracassetti to discuss current and future activities financed by the GCF in Egypt.
The meeting took up work progress at the project to boost adaptation with climate change in the Northern Coast and Nile Delta regions.
This project is designed to face rising sea levels and severe weather phenomena, which affect low-lying coastal areas.
It was agreed that a high-level UNDP delegation attend the Water Day activities, scheduled to be held as part of the upcoming climate change conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
For his part, UNDP resident representative Fracassetti said he is keen on boosting cooperation with the Egyptian Irrigation Ministry, which, he added, exerts great effort to protect beaches in line with a plan to adapt with climate change.
Fracassetti said that beach protection is a top priority of the GCF.