Egypt’s Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources is taking active measures to protect vulnerable low-lying coastal areas in the northern Nile Delta, a region highly prone to flooding due to the rising global sea levels caused by climate change.
The ministry is implementing a series of protective measures that span a considerable stretch of 69 kilometers and cover five key coastal governorates: Port Said, Damietta, Dakahlia, Kafr El-Sheikh, and Beheira. These measures are part of the “Enhancing Climate Adaptation in Egypt’s Northern Coast and Nile Delta” project, financed by the Green Climate Fund, which operates as the financial arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to assist developing countries in adopting counter climate change practices.
The projects employ cost-effective and sustainable approaches that utilize materials from the local environment.
A core objective of the project is to set up monitoring stations along the Mediterranean Sea to track changes in waves, winds, and sea level patterns.
According to Mohamed Ghanem, spokesperson for the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, this initiative aims to tackle the challenges posed by rising sea levels and extreme weather.
A comprehensive plan for managing the coastal areas along Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coast is also being developed. This plan seeks to safeguard the natural resources and economic importance of Egypt’s coastlines, as well as their residents.
Early Warning Climate Systems
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that between 1970 and 2021 that there were 11,778 recorded disasters related to extreme weather, climate, and water events. These incidents resulted in the loss of over two million lives and caused substantial economic damage amounting to USD 4.3 trillion.
However, a significant positive shift occurred over the span of these 51 years: A report released by the WMO in 2021 highlighted that in the earlier years, disasters claimed over 50,000 lives annually worldwide. Remarkably, this number had decreased to fewer than 20,000 deaths by the 2010s. The most recent data from the WMO, unveiled in May of this year, indicates that the combined disaster-related deaths in 2020 and 2021 amounted to 22,608.
According to the WMO, the improvement can be attributed to advancements in early warning systems and the effective coordination of disaster management efforts.
