The First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Dr. Ragab Abdul Azim, has chaired the inception meeting of the “Climate Change Adaptation in the North Coast and the Nile Delta in Egypt” Project on 5 November at the ministry. The meeting was attended by Mr. Tom Twining-Ward, UNDP Regional Technical Advisor in addition to stakeholders from relevant ministries and governorates.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) grant to the project amounts to USD 31 million, to protect low lying lands in the Nile Delta from coastal flooding in five governorates mainly Port Said, Damietta, Dakahlia, Kafr El-Sheikh, and Beheira, using a dike system stretched over 70 kilometers (43 miles) in the Nile Delta Coast. The project will also support preparation of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) plan for the North Coast of Egypt coupled with a national monitoring plan for the sea physical parameters associated with on climate change and rising sea levels.

In the Inception meeting, the project outcomes and outputs were presented as well as the gender plan and Environmental Management Safeguards Framework (ESMF).  The presentations have also covered the requirements under legal framework of the agreement between UNDP and GCF.  The speakers and participants discussed the different options, best practices and lessons learnt from previous initiatives pertaining to climate change adaptation of coastal zones.