The Ministry of Water and Irrigation and UNDP sign a 31million project “Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation on the North Coast and the Nile Delta”

October 2, 2018

The signature ceremony of the project taking place in Cairo. Photo Source: Sada Elbalad

Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouli witnessed today the signing ceremony of the “Climate Change Adaptation in the North Coast and the Nile Delta in Egypt” in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty, Minister of Water and Irrigation, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Mr. Richard Dictus, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative. The project document has been signed by Ambassador Hany Selim, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Cooperation for Development, Dr. Ragab Abdul Azim, First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and Ms. Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Country Director in Egypt.    

The project, worth USD 31 million, is funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to implement the coastal protection measures in five governorates of the North Delta. The Prime Minister has stated that the project document comes as a result of the government’s efforts, represented in the Ministries of Water and irrigation and Foreign Affairs in coordination with the UN and UNDP. The project benefited from the international financing tools available to support developing countries in reducing the negative impacts of climate change in addition to the other development issues.

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty announced that this is the largest grant obtained by Egypt in the field of climate change adaptation. It aims to reduce coastal flooding of northern Egypt, in a number of governorates; Port Said, Damietta, Dakhlia, Kafr El Sheikh and Behira, which is caused by the sea level rise and the extreme weather events. 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 at the North Coast in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and in consultation with all the stakeholders in the coastal areas. He stressed the importance of all parties’ commitment to the approved plan to guarantee the effectiveness of the coastal protection systems on the medium and long term that will be implemented to protect from the risks of rising sea level.

From his side, UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Richard Dictus stressed that Adaptation to the increasing climate change risks is one of UNDP’s priorities in the developing countries. The new project builds on the successful partnership between UNDP and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in the first phase, funded by the Global Environment Fund. The project has implemented pilot projects to test the effectiveness of some low-cost and innovative coastal protection systems. It is worth mentioning that the new project will start implementation before the end of this year.