Egypt’s climate solutions highlighted in UNDP videos

25 / 03 / 2024

By Marwa Nassar - -

Climate solutions presented by Egypt and 11 other countries were highlighted in new video series by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The solutions come from Egypt alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, India, Panama, Tuvalu, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.

Climate Action Explained, introduced by UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, takes viewers on a world tour that proves meaningful climate action is possible. Among the highlighted countries is Egypt, where UNDP is enhancing climate adaptation among rural communities in the North coastal strip of the Nile Delta in Kafr El Sheikh and testing the usage of climate smart crops to adapt to climate change.

The UNDP has unveiled a new YouTube series, Climate Action Explained, which explores what climate action looks like around the world. As climate change impacts intensify, the series outlines the need to scale up the many climate solutions already underway to secure a greener, safer future.

Introduced by UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador and actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the four videos showcase how we can adapt to the impacts of climate change, restore the world’s forests, power communities with sustainable energy and enable young people to drive climate action.

The campaign highlights how UNDP, through the Regional SDG Climate Facility Initiative, is actively addressing the challenges posed by climate change adaptation for local communities in the Nile Delta region. By focusing on small-scale local projects tailored for farming communities vulnerable to sea level rise, initiatives such as greenhouses, solar water pumping, and the promotion of salt-tolerant crops, are spearheading climate change adaptation efforts in the area. Through these efforts, beneficiaries can successfully implement over 120 small projects.

These projects, carried out in partnership with Misr El-Kheir Charity NGO and the Center of Excellence for Saline Agriculture at the Desert Research Center aim to enhance the resilience of rural communities against climate change impacts and generate employment opportunities for men, women, and youth.

This campaign also sheds light on UNDP Egypt’s collaboration with Savola Foods, a leading MENAT region food manufacturing company. The partnership focuses on strengthening resilience to the effects of climate change on the agri-food value chain by utilizing climate-resilient crops and sustainable product innovation.

“The climate crisis can feel overwhelming and scary, but we do have the solutions we need to address this challenge head on. By showcasing the leadership of developing countries around the world, our new video series proves that” remarked Cassie Flynn, Global Director of Climate Change at UNDP. “What we now need is to boldly scale up these solutions, together.”

The Climate Action Explained video series is part of UNDP’s efforts to ignite public conversation and mobilize action on climate change on the road to the COP30 climate negotiations which will be held in Brazil in 2025. COP30 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and is a critical opportunity to get the world on a path aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5° C, as countries submit a new round of climate pledges and action plans. These plans – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – are at the very heart of the global fight against climate change.

“The climate crisis is already here, hitting headlines across the globe. The bad news is that, without urgent and meaningful action, extreme weather and disasters are set to become only more common and more intense. On the other side of that, we have the good news, which is that progress is possible,” UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador and actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said. “The stories highlighted in the Climate Action Explained video series show us that we have the answers to fight climate change and build a better, safer future.”