Egypt Calls on Countries to Update Their Water and Climate Plans

A view from an airplane window shows buildings around the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt March 10, 2020. (Reuters)
A view from an airplane window shows buildings around the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt March 10, 2020. (Reuters)
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Egypt Calls on Countries to Update Their Water and Climate Plans

A view from an airplane window shows buildings around the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt March 10, 2020. (Reuters)
A view from an airplane window shows buildings around the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt March 10, 2020. (Reuters)

Egypt has called for the upgrading of all national plans related to water and climate around the world.

It stressed the importance of reinforcing integration among global initiatives and activities in the environmental field and limiting the risks of disasters, immigration, and displacement.

Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty participated virtually a panel discussion, "Dialogue on Water Scarcity and Migration — Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development in the Middle East and North Africa", on the sidelines of the MENA’s Climate Week in the UAE on Saturday.

He said there are many forms of migration and population displacement caused by water scarcity, which is being exacerbated by climate change.

Some examples are the decline in water levels in Lake Chad in Central Africa and the resulting tensions regarding water and the emergence of terrorist groups.

The minister also noted the apparent impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle of water and on freshwater supplies around the world, which poses a serious threat to water security, food security, livelihoods, and ecosystems.

Furthermore, he pointed to the severe impact on delta regions as a result of the rise in sea level and the flooding of densely populated cities, which confirms the importance of achieving regional cooperation between countries on the basis of mutual benefit in the field of climate adaptation.

Abdel Aty referred to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which made it clear that climate change is increasingly leading to displacement and involuntary migration, and the resulting humanitarian crises around the world.

The minister further added that the World Bank estimates that the MENA region can lose up to 14 percent of its gross national product by 2050 due to water stress, as indicated by the IPCC report, which showed that effective and sustainable water management reduces the severity of the effects of climate change.

Moreover, the minister stressed that Egypt is close to the limit of water scarcity, as the per capita share of water is about 560 cubic meters annually, and that 40 percent of the labor force in Egypt depends on agriculture as a main source of income.

He noted that to meet these challenges, Egypt has drawn up a national plan to manage water resources until 2037, with investments amounting to $50 billion that are expected to increase to $100 billion.



Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.