The Egyptian senate has been discussing the impact of climate change, following a request by Senator Walid El-Tamimi. El-Tamami said that hosting COP27 in Egypt should "prompt the government to face the challenge of climate change and its impact on Mediterranean cities, water resources and agricultural production in Egypt."
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority indicated that the summer of 2021 witnessed an unprecedented rise in temperature of 3-4oC when compared to five years ago. The rise in temperature has had a destructive impact on agricultural production. Last summer, the fruit and vegetable harvest witnessed a 50 per cent drop in yield. The most affected crops were olives and mangos.
In spite of all this, the biggest threat to Egypt is a reduction to its water resources. Some 97 per cent of the country's water comes from abroad, mainly through the River Nile. Egypt faced the risk of reducing its water share of the Nile after Ethiopia, an upstream country on the Nile basin, built its Renaissance Dam.
In response, the National Council for Climate Change was established in 2015 to plan and supervise policies to counter these destructive effects. The new council issued a National Strategy for Climate Changes 2050. To date, however, this has mainly included general recommendations on promoting governance and cooperation between the various ministries to implement green policies and espousing a green economic attitude.
Source: middleeastmonitor.com