UN official urges Egypt to establish sustainable cities, adopt sustainable agricultural mechanim

03 / 11 / 2019

By Dina Mohamed - - | Edited by Marwa Nassar

United Nations Regional Coordinator Richard Dictus said Egypt needs to have carbon-free smart cities and smart agricultural mechanisms to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.

He made the remarks during the Arab Sustainable Development Week which opened on Sunday under the aegis of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

He said the whole world is focusing now on green economy and the technology revolution as new jobs are expected to surface due to the outstanding progress in the technological domain, noting that some old jobs would disappear in the coming few years.

He noted that only well-educated people will succeed to join the new jobs.

He said “we seek to predict the future in Egypt, especially in view of accelerating changes as we continue to have greenhouse gas emissions” which are the one of the main causes behind climate change.

He also noted that Egypt is facing a major water problem as water scarcity in Egypt is expected to reach 80 percent and water shortage is estimated at 20 percent.

He explained that this would lead to reducing the production of certain crops in the future.

He said “we are all responsible for reaching this stage. Curbing climate change is not linked to injecting huge investments, it, however, depends by 90 percent on ordinary people.”