Egypt National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) 2050.

This National Climate Change Strategy is a nationwide multi-sectoral document aiming at (i) consolidating all aspects of climate change in one document to be a basic reference that ensures the integration of climate change dimension into general planning of all sectors in the country; (ii) representing a roadmap for achieving “Objective 3.1: Meeting the challenges of climate change” within the framework of the updated Egypt Vision 2030; (iii) enabling Egypt to plan and manage climate change at different levels in a way that supports the achievement of the desired economic and development goals, following a low-emissions approach. The document set out the following five main goals, including 22 objectives, each containing several directions that will contribute to achieving the objectives. Goals 1 and 2 are the two main goals that require the most interventions in different sectors (1) achieving sustainable economic growth and low-emission development in various sectors; (2) enhancing adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change and alleviating the associated negative impacts; (3) enhancing climate change action governance; (4) enhancing climate financing infrastructure; (5) enhancing scientific research, technology transfer, knowledge management and awareness to combat climate change.
To increase the production, the Strategy proposes of (i) developing different varieties and hybrids of strategic crops that are highly productive and tolerant to adverse weather conditions (high temperatures, salinity and drought; (ii) allocating new agricultural lands to increase the agricultural area; (iii) rationalizing water consumption in agriculture and reuse of agricultural wastewater.
Food security can be reached by (i) providing sources of proper nutrition in the poorest areas with a focus on vulnerable groups, such as women, especially pregnant and lactating women, children, people with special needs, the elderly, and the sick; (ii) using more efficient technologies to reduce food waste; (iii) preserving natural resources as an essential source of food; (iv) educating about the risks and negative impacts resulting from climate changes including on food security.
The core of the Strategy regards the environmental protection from the effects of climate change. The main interventions proposed are (i) reducing emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels and using low-carbon fuel alternatives; (ii) maximizing energy efficiency for other developmental uses and the sustainable economic development through lower emissions; (iii) adopting sustainable consumption and production trends in non-energy activities such as agriculture and waste by (a) reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities, such as animal production activities, through the use of modern technologies and various feeding systems and the use of crops with low water needs, and (b) promoting the concept of the ‹4Rs› which is to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover municipal and agricultural waste; (iv) reducing waste from the source (such as limiting the use of single-use plastic and using fewer or reusable packaging materials); (v) raising the efficiency of water resource use, and developing water harvesting and rainwater collecting systems; (vi) protecting coastal lowland and implementing integrated coastal zone management; (vii) establishing early warning systems for all sectors by developing a unified database; (viii) promoting afforestation and the increase of green spaces; (ix) strengthening the role of scientific research and technology transfer in climate change mitigation and adaptation; (x) ensuring that the impacts of climate change are included as part of the planning and design of large agricultural projects, such as the New Delta project, greenhouses, fish farms, poultry and livestock production projects; (xi) minimizing loss and damage to assets and ecosystems.
To promote inclusive economic and social growth, the Strategy proposes to (i) protect citizens from the negative health impacts of climate change, directing special attention to citizens with special risk factors, such as women, especially pregnant and lactating women, children, people with special needs, the elderly and the sick; (ii) rising awareness about the health risks posed by climate change and, in general, among different stakeholders (high-level policy/decision makers, citizens, and students); (iii) improving water and sanitation systems and services, particularly in underserved areas most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; (iv) developing infrastructure in rural communities including water and irrigation infrastructure; (v) strengthening women's response considerations to help them adapt to climate change; (vi) improving the rank of Egypt in the international profile of climate change actions to attract further investments and climate finance opportunities and promoting innovative financing mechanisms; (vii) promote private sector engagement in climate finance and promotion of green jobs.
As for Governance, it is deemed important to define the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders in order to achieve the strategic goals. The importance of institutional integration between different sectors and ministries is crucial to deal with a complex issue like climate change. Furthermore, the institutional, procedural and legal arrangements such as Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system need to be enhanced as well.