Egypt- Second National Communication

Project details

Potential Adaptation Measures identified in Egypt's Second National Communication (2010):

Water Resources

Adaptation to Increase of Inflow:

• Maintaining storage at Aswan High Dam at lower elevations in order to allow for receiving higher flood events, and at the same time, the preparation of other stores to receive any surplus water in emergency cases
• The increase of cultivated areas especially in highly elevated lands to absorb surplus water.

Adaptation to Inflow Reduction:

• Physical improvement of the irrigation system.
• More efficient and reliable water delivery.
• Better control on water.
• Augmented farm productivity and raised farmers’ income
• Quick resolution of conflicts between users.
• Use of new technologies of weed control.
• Redesign of canal cross sections to reduce evaporation losses.
• Cost recovery systems.
• Improvement of drainage.
• Change of cropping pattern and on farm irrigation systems.

Agriculture/Food Security

• Conducting a national program for improving the current crop patterns and calendar to be adapted to the incoming projected climate changes
• Implementing a nationwide project targeting the improvements of on-farm irrigation systems in order to tackle the expected increase in pressures on water availability and the higher irrigation demand under climate change conditions
• Assuring sustainable adaptation funds and climate hazards insurance systems
• Establishing a strong information dissemination system regarding climate change and its impacts on agriculture targeting all growers, in order to assist them in
  developing appropriate adaptation measures.

Coastal Zones and Marine Ecosystems

• Creating wetlands in areas vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise in low lying deltas. Lake Manzala and Lake Burullus are two examples of such areas eligible for such adaptation processes;
•  Progressing with protecting and fixing natural sand dunes systems which constitute an important natural protection;
• Reinforcing the international road along the Mediterranean coast to act as a second line of defense for the protection of the northern zone of the Delta. In this respect, the northern side of this road should be reinforced so as to act as a sea wall;
• Possibly using Al-Salam Canal banks as protection, as they rise 2 m above Lake Manzala water level;
•  Activating the National Coastal Zone Management Committee which should formulate an integrated coastal zone management plan

Tourism Sector

• Expanding the marine protected areas and enforcing regulations;
• Adopting an integrated coastal zone management approach for development in coastal areas;
• Carrying out vulnerability assessments and protection of archeological and touristic sites and roads against impacts of climate changes;
• Redirecting growth away from sensitive lands and towards less vulnerable areas;
• Developing a strong monitoring and law enforcement system to ensure the implementation of these measures.

Infrastructure

• Improving building standards
• Natural ventilation for buildings
• Bituminous materials with appropriate stiffness characteristics should be used in road construction or maintenance works on the road network. Alternative modes of transportation need to be considered;
• Re-orienting flood routes away from road paths;
• Slowing down, collection, and storing rain and flood water;
•  Bridging water: Notwithstanding the high cost of constructing a bridge over the water path, this is an obvious way to face the problem;
• The road network should be reviewed to identify areas of potential risk from coastal flooding, taking account into the cumulative effects of sea-level changes and storm surges. Any new projects proposed in low-lying areas should be reviewed with respect to these risk factors;
•  A strong need for upgrading public transportation systems and encouraging non-motorized transport.

Public Health

• Reduction of socioeconomic vulnerability
• Maintenance of a national public health infrastructure
• Access to quality health services:
• Improvement of vaccination programs
• The development of early warning systems and control programs for infectious diseases

News

Key results & output

• Sustainable development and the integration of climate change concerns into medium- and long-term planning
• Inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases
• Measures contributing to addressing climate change
• Research and systematic observation
• Climate change impacts, adaptation measures and response strategies
• Education, training and public awareness

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Monitoring & evaluation

In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable.

Parties to the Convention must submit national reports on implementation of the Convention to the Conference of the Parties (COP). The required contents of national communications and the timetable for their submission are different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. This is in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" enshrined in the Convention.

The core elements of the national communications for both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties are information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and details of the activities a Party has undertaken to implement the Convention. National communications usually contain information on national circumstances, vulnerability assessment, financial resources and transfer of technology, and education, training and public awareness.

Since 1994, governments have invested significant time and resources in the preparation, collection and validation of data on GHG emissions, and the COP has made determined efforts to improve the quality and consistency of the data, which are ensured by established guidelines for reporting. Non-Annex I Parties receive financial and technical assistance in preparing their national communications, facilitated by the UNFCCC secretariat

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