Climate Change Impacts in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Sahara
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Alexandria—
The BA hosted on Tuesday, 10 April 2007, regional press conference by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), in cooperation with Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate, Cairo. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) finalized the Summary for Policymakers of its new report “Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability", which was released on 6 April to put into effect the wealth of details on the implications of climate change for North Africa, the Middle East and the Sahara region. The conference mainly dealt with the impact of climate change on North Africa, the Middle East and the Sahara region and how it affects sustainable development. The press conference seeks to inform the public and media about the risks and repercussions of climate change and how adaptation and mitigation alleviate these impacts.
The conference was chaired by Dr. Mostafa Tolba, former UNEP Executive Director. Dr. Salah Soliman, Professor of Pesticide Chemistry and Toxicology, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Dr. Mahmoud Medany, Center for Agricultural Research in Cairo, Dr. Balgis Osman in Sudan participated in the briefings, while Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC participated through video conferencing. Dr. Pachauri referred to the importance of adaptation with climate change, and involving states with high education standards in finding solutions and suggestion to this problem.
Dr. Pachauri emphasized the need for a new agenda, that enables us to deal with implications of climate change. He praised the efforts of all scientist who worked on the assessment report. He called upon all authorities to work closely facing climate changes, and he added that economic growth is the only way to eliminate poverty.
Dr. Salah Soliman called upon northern states to respect environmental laws, and the rights of the south. Dr. Mostafa Tolba said that genetic engineering will save us tens of years. He added that wheat, corn, and barely do not adapt to the rise in temperature, 3 degrees especially in Africa, and thus, these agricultural crops should be genetically treated to face these changes.
Dr. Balgis Osman, one of the experts who participated in the report, said that Africa is very vulnerable to climate change, as it is affected with several factors increasing the impact of climate change, such as poverty, civil wars, food security, and famines. She stated that the population at risk of water scarcity and inadequacy will increase from 47% to 65%. She stressed the need for other means of livelihoods besides agriculture, and ways to adapt to climate change.
Dr. Mahmoud Medany, one of the authors of the report for Middle East, North Africa and the Sahara, said that the report is issued in 1572 pages, four volumes, and was prepared in 6 years. The assessment report is the fourth issued by Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), and contains a wealth of new information on the impacts of climate change.