Bracing for climate change-fuelled summer of drought

Bracing for climate change-fuelled summer of drought

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A typical image above of what Bracing for climate change-fuelled summer of drought is about.

It is about Pistachio trees in a field affected by the prolonged drought in Ronda, southern Spain May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

Southern Europe braces for climate change-fuelled summer of drought

Summary

  • 22% of Europe under drought warning
  • Spain worst-hit, already in severe drought
  • Some farmers expect worst harvest for decades
  • Climate change fuelling drought conditions

 

BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) – Southern Europe is bracing for a summer of ferocious drought, with some regions already suffering water shortages and farmers expecting their worst yields in decades.

As climate change makes the region hotter and drier, years of consecutive drought have depleted groundwater reserves. Soils have become bone dry in Spain, southern France and Italy. Low river and reservoir levels are threatening this summer’s hydropower production.

With temperatures climbing into summertime, scientists warn Europe is on track for another brutal summer, after suffering its hottest on record last year – which fuelled a drought European Union researchers said was the worst in at least 500 years.

So far this year, the situation is most severe in Spain.

“The situation of drought is going to worsen this summer,” said Jorge Olcina, professor of geographic analysis at the University of Alicante, Spain.

There’s little chance at this point of rainfall resolving the underlying drought, either. “At this time of the year, the only thing we can have are punctual and local storms, which are not going to solve the rainfall deficit,” Olcina said.

Seeking emergency EU assistance, Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas warned that “the situation resulting from this drought is of such magnitude that its consequences cannot be tackled with national funds alone,” according to an April 24 letter sent to the European Commission (EC) and seen by Reuters.

A vegetable patch is affected by the prolonged drought, in Ronda, southern Spain May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

CLIMATE CHANGE TREND

Southern Europe is not alone in suffering severe water shortages this year. The Horn of Africa is enduring its worst drought in decades, while a historic drought in Argentina has hammered soy and corn crops.

More frequent and severe drought in the Mediterranean region – where the average temperature is now 1.5C higher than 150 years ago – is in line with how scientists have forecast climate change will impact the region.

“In terms of the climate change signal, it very much fits with what we’re expecting,” said Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts at Newcastle University.

Despite these long-held forecasts, preparation is lagging. Many farming regions have yet to adopt water-saving methods like precision irrigation or switch to more drought-hardy crops, such as sunflowers.

“Governments are late. Companies are late,” said Robert Vautard, a climate scientist and director of France’s Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute. “Some companies are not even thinking of changing the model of their consumption, they are just trying to find some miraculous technologies that would bring water.”

France is emerging from its driest winter since 1959, with drought “crisis” alerts already activated in four departmental prefects, restricting non-priority water withdrawals – including for agriculture, according to government website Propluvia.

Portugal, too, is experiencing an early arrival of drought. Some 90% of the mainland is suffering from drought, with severe drought affecting one-fifth of the country – nearly five times the area reported a year earlier.

In Spain, which saw less than half its average rainfall through April this year, thousands of people are relying on truck deliveries for drinking water, while regions including Catalonia have imposed water restrictions.

Some farmers have already reported crop losses as high as 80%, with cereals and oilseeds among those affected, farming groups have said.

“This is the worst loss of harvest for decades,” Pekka Pesonen, who heads the European farming group Copa-Cogeca, said of Spain. “It’s worse than last year’s situation.”

Spain is responsible for half of the EU’s production of olives and one third of its fruit, according to the Commission.

With its reservoirs at on average 50% of capacity, the country last week earmarked more than 2 billion euros ($2.20 billion) in emergency response funding. It is still awaiting a reply from the Commission on its request for a 450-million-euro crisis fund to be mobilized from the bloc’s farming subsidy budget.

The Commission said it was monitoring the situation closely.

“Severe drought in Southern Europe is particularly worrying, not only for the farmers there but also because this can push up already very high consumer prices if the EU production is significantly lower,” Commission spokesperson Miriam Garcia Ferrer said.

Similar struggles are expected in Italy, where up to 80% of the country’s water supply goes toward agriculture. But with this year’s thin mountain snow cover and low soil moisture, Italian farmers are planning to cut back – sowing summer crops across an area 6% smaller than last year’s planting area, according to national data on sowing intentions.

After two years of water scarcity, northern Italy has a 70% deficit in snow water reserves and a 40% deficit of soil moisture, said Luca Brocca, a Director of Research at Italy’s National Research Council.

Such deep shortages set the stage for a repeat of last year’s summer, when Italy suffered its most severe drought in 70 years.

“2022 was really exceptional. And also this year, it seems to be really exceptional,” Brocca said.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Katy Daigle and Sharon Singleton
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How is Climate Change Affecting MENA? Local Experts Weigh In

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How is Climate Change Affecting MENA? Local Experts Weigh In each, in their respective area but in a similar way throughout the varying specifics of the MENA regions . . .

 

How is Climate Change Affecting MENA? Local Experts Weigh In

For Earth Day 2023, members of the Agents of Change Youth Fellowship answered this question: What is the biggest environmental or climate change related challenge facing your community today? Their responses reveal a pattern of vulnerability facing the MENA region.

Groundwater depletion in the West Bank

Climate change will affect most sectors of the economy in the Palestinian territories, especially the water sector, which will be among the most affected in terms of water availability and quality. Freshwater resources—surface and groundwater—will become more scarce due to decreasing precipitation rates. This will make it more difficult to replace groundwater during periods of high population growth, coinciding with the intensification of competition for water between Palestinian agriculture, Israeli settlements, and the industrial sector.

“High temperatures and excessive precipitation rates may threaten the quality of drinking water, given the limited treatment facilities.”

Less rainfall will also increase the cost and amount of energy needed to extract water. In addition, high temperatures and excessive precipitation rates may threaten the quality of drinking water, given the limited treatment facilities. Measurements of groundwater levels through a geological survey of some areas of the West Bank have observed that 45% of the sub-aquifers have decreased sharply and significantly, and this has led to the desiccation of 15% of the soils in the areas surrounding the decreasing aquifers.

This exacerbates the water demand crisis, which will have direct effects on the topology of the food network, which constitutes an important resource that supports the Palestinian economy, in addition to the fact that the West Bank is already suffering from a major water crisis. Climate change predictions for the Palestinian territories from high-resolution regional climate models show above-average global warming over this century in the range of 2.12-4.9°C (35.8-40.82°F) according to a realistic emissions scenario.

The impact of climate change on groundwater in the West Bank and the decrease in its quantities have led to a significant increase in the prices of agricultural products, especially those from agriculture that relies extensively on irrigation; 7% of farmers have left their lands due to the high cost of obtaining water.

Financing Climate Action in Egypt

Building climate resilience while coping with near-term crises is crucial, but neither can be achieved without adequate finance. Unfortunately, climate finance is not keeping up with climate change’s escalating impacts. Egypt is among the most susceptible countries to climate change due to its growing population concentrated in the densely populated Nile Delta. Egypt’s carbon emissions increased by 155% between 1990 and 2018, three times more than the global rate of 50%. Additionally, climate change is projected to cost Egypt between 2% and 6% of its GDP by 2060.

In response, the Egyptian government has developed a coherent policy agenda for climate action that is institutionally ahead of many of its MENA peers. The country has made significant strides in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, such as doubling its wind energy production, constructing desalination plants and flood control infrastructure, and launching the first green sovereign bond in the MENA region, worth $750 million and offering a 5.25% yield. The country pledged to cut emissions by 25% by 2030 in its revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which also encompasses various adaptation and mitigation projects. Yet, for these projects to be completed by 2030, $50 billion in financing is required.

“The lack of adequate financial resources remains Egypt’s main obstacle to responding to climate hazards.”

Unfortunately, the Egyptian pound suffered a half-value decline last year, making it the worst-performing currency in 2023. Even though the country receives the most significant proportion of climate finance in the MENA region (28%), the region hosts the least amount of climate finance globally, estimated at $16 billion annually, with financing needs estimated at $186 billion based on countries’ NDCs.

Deferring climate finance investment is not an option. The lack of adequate financial resources remains Egypt’s main obstacle to responding to climate hazards. Collaboration with the private sector, foreign direct investment, and international cooperation will open doors to alternative financial resources for the country’s green transition.

Decreasing Snowpack and Rainfall in Turkey

The most urgent climate-related challenge facing Turkey is elevated drought risk. As part of the Mediterranean Basin, a climate hot spot, Turkey will experience the consequences of climate change earlier and harsher than many other parts of the world, including more severe and prolonged droughts. These drought events typically occur concurrently with three trends: (1) a shrinking snowpack, hence reduced flows in Turkey’s rivers, (2) higher average temperatures, which also escalate extreme heat risk, and (3) less rainfall in southern regions, resulting in a drier climate and aridification.

These droughts can be debilitating for Turkey in several ways. In times of drought, crops need more watering due to less rainfall and hotter weather. Furthermore, elevated extreme heat risks threaten crop health, leading to reduced crop yield at best and complete crop loss at worst. More intense droughts mean more severe wildfires, particularly in the Mediterranean region. Forest vegetation dries up and becomes more flammable due to hotter weather and inadequate rainfall.

Many cities in Turkey are vulnerable since they mainly rely on captured rainfall and river flows to supply water for their residents. During droughts, cities have less water, and their ability to provide water for human consumption is imperiled. Turkey depends heavily on hydropower to meet the country’s electricity demand. But during droughts, hydropower output can decrease dramatically as the water levels in reservoirs drop. This results in more reliance on imported fossil fuels like coal and natural gas to compensate for the loss.

These impacts jeopardize everyone’s welfare in Turkey by endangering food, water, and energy security, as well as posing public health threats and harming Turkey’s precious ecosystems.

These impacts jeopardize everyone’s welfare in Turkey by endangering food, water, and energy security, as well as posing public health threats and harming Turkey’s precious ecosystems. Investing in water conservation and wastewater recycling, boosting funding for maintaining forest health, and implementing tighter groundwater management regulations could be good starting points.

Extreme Temperatures Adds Up in Warming Gulf Countries

The Middle East and the Arab region are already facing rising temperatures almost twice as quickly as the rest of the world, according to a report by the Cyprus Institute’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Center and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. The temperature during summer in the already very hot in MENA and will increase more than two times faster than the global average, making it one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the disastrous consequences of climate change.

In recent years, we have started to see the extreme weather impacts in a much more visible way, adding to the already existing temperature rise. According to the study, what makes the Arab region more susceptible to higher increases in temperatures than some other parts of the world are geographical features such as large expanses of desert and lower ground water levels. Extreme weather conditions such as the deadly flash floods in Fujairah in the UAE, flooding in Qatar, and flash floods in Oman are examples of the impacts affecting the Gulf region.

“When extreme weather and temperature are combined, the consequences are multiplied several fold–making populations in the Arab region more vulnerable.”

When extreme weather and temperature are combined, the consequences are multiplied severalfold–making populations in Arab region more vulnerable. In these challenging times, it is crucial for the world to come together and address the threat of climate change and help countries in the Arab Middle East to adapt. Regardless of the climate change scenario in the latest IPCC AR6 synthesis report, it will become reality soon or later: climate change will result in a significant deterioration of living conditions for people living in the Arab Middle East countries, and consequently, many people may have to leave the region due to rising temperatures.

Khalil Abu Allan is an Agents of Change Youth Fellow, and faculty member at Hebron University, West Bank, in the Department of Applied Geography.

Eslam A. Hassanein is an Agents of Change Youth Fellow, and is an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Politics and Economics- Beni Suef University- Egypt.

Gokce Sencan is an Agents of Change Youth Fellow, and a climate and water policy researcher based in California.

Neeshad Shafi is an Agents of Change Youth Fellow, and the Co-founder & Executive Director at the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar, a first registered youth lead non-profit association in the State of Qatar.

Photo Credit: In Al-Chibayish, Iraq, a Marsh Arab woman collects water in the wetlands of the Central Marshes of southern Iraq, courtesy of John Wreford/Shutterstock.com.

This article was originally published as part of the Viewpoints Series of the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program.

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Investing in a Cooperative Future at the UN Water Conference

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Photo 1: A man walks inside UN headquarters, ahead the UN Water Conference, on March 22, 2023, in New York City. Source: Leonardo Munoz / AFP

‘From satellites to sandbags’ Investing in a Cooperative Future at the UN Water Conference

Author: Matt Luna / Fanack Water.

Resilience, restoration, and security in water-climate adaptation were matched with investment strategy in side events of the 2023 UN Water Conference, held from March 22-24. In order to achieve sustainable approaches, scientific and financial experts worked together with NGOs to cross disciplines and introduce solutions that necessitate new forms of collaboration among actors in the room and far beyond.

People around the world are dealing with the consequences of more extreme weather, which is often more severe in fragile or developing countries. According to an article in Nature co-authored by Henk Ovink, the Netherlands Special Envoy for Water and a key organizer of the Water Conference, rising temperatures are also increasing the amount of moisture held in the atmosphere, resulting in drier summers in regions such as the Mediterranean. It is clear that previous weather patterns and economic models cannot be used to build future resilience.

In the Conference side event “Placing Water at the Heart of Climate Action through Locally-Led Adaptation” on March 23, participants discussed how to ensure that investment in climate resilience is accessible to local actors. According to UN Water, a quarter of the global population – 2 billion people – lacks access to safe drinking water, and water-related disasters endanger community health while disrupting food security and income-generating activities. According to the World Economic Forum, the MENA region is “one of the most water-scarce regions in the world,” and the World Bank estimates that climate-related water scarcity could cost the region up to 14% of its GDP over the next 30 years.

Early warning systems based on satellite earth observation data on weather events can save lives, particularly during flooding, but they must be implemented locally to be effective. This requires a shift away from business as usual in order to increase investment in communities. The COP 28 meeting in the UAE this November-December, as well as the meetings leading up to it, will provide an opportunity to strengthen agreement on new paths forward and what is required for implementation.

Human-caused degradation of natural ecosystems is further driving changes in water cycles, which disrupt society and increase people’s vulnerability. In the side event “Nature-based Solutions for Water & Peace” on March 24, the Weather Makers, an engineering company aimed at restoring water cycles, used the Sinai area of Egypt as an example of land restoration initiative. More vegetation leads to more rain, so converting forests to agricultural land can have a significant impact on regional rain patterns. Interdisciplinary solutions co-created by indigenous populations and industrial actors can help to reverse some of the land’s impact and disrupted weather patterns.

Photo 2: Nature-based Solutions for Water & Peace Session at UN Water Conference. Source: Matt Luna / Fanack Water

“It is possible to restore large scale ecosystems. People’s lives have been improved, and they were the agents of change. We have a deep responsibility to contribute to the future of people by restoring the hydrologic cycle,” said John D. Liu, an ecologist/filmmaker who is working with the Weather Makers and Ecosystem Restoration Camps.

This side event on nature-based solutions was co-organized by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS). Laura Birkman, Head of the Climate and Security Program at HCSS, spoke about security-proofing nature-based solutions and climate adaptation by collaborating with the Water Peace and Security Partnership to identify “hotspot” areas of risk, which include North Sinai, SyriaIraq, and Iran‘s Mazandaran Province. This strategy includes the following steps: 1) analyzing, 2) anticipating, 3) mobilizing, and 4) mitigating violent conflict threats in areas characterized by resource scarcity, rural-urban migration, and social unrest. Panellist General Tom Middendorp (Ret.) of the Netherlands, an expert advisor for HCSS, said, “There is no adaptation without security. We should work with civil actors to build in a conflict-sensitive way and invest in future systems that are less burdensome on resources, so people will not need to migrate.”

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) hosted a side event on March 23rd called “Water Finance in the Mediterranean,” which discussed ways to improve the financial sustainability of water management. Mohammed Chtioui, Director of the Tensift River Basin Agency in Morocco, raised the issue of how to more effectively establish and manage public-private partnerships for investments throughout the Mediterranean, with water tariff amounts being a recurring issue in pricing and adjusting during the session. Mr. Chtioui said, “With increasing water scarcity, we need to look at demand management of water, and reuse of water is newest pillar.” Water Team Leader, OECD Environment Directorate, Xavier Leflaive, presented guidelines to help countries in the region, such as redirecting global water subsidies to better research the people in need, ensuring strong regulation for water supply, sanitation services, and tariffs, and enabling water finance supported by an assessment of necessary conditions.

John D. Liu received a warm applause in the side event when he summed up feelings in a number of the discussions across the 2023 UN Water Conference: “Rather than building more ruins for future archaeologists to dig through, we should restore nature.” People are living in camps all over the world to help restore ecosystems and hydrologic cycles. If we make this the foundation of our economic systems, we will progress as a species.” At COP28, all eyes will be on the actors in key sectors to see where commitments to innovative and ecocentric approaches can be translated into real, sustainable action.

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Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs jointly tackle climate change

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DW takes us to the hottest area to tell us how local people are putting their hands together for a better future for everyone at a time when realising that energy cooperation is a necessary step; it is about Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs jointly tackling climate change.

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Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs jointly tackle climate change

Jennifer Holleis

A new US-led initiative brings together Palestinians, Israelis and Arab states to address climate change in the region. Building trust and funding joint projects remain challenges.

The Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. It’s already being hit disproportionately by rising temperatureswater scarcity and desertification. And the outlook for the future is grim.

These are all compelling reasons for experts in the region to collaborate more, say the organizers of a conference on agriculture, water and food security. The conference, which was attended by experts from Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and several Arabic and Muslim countries, aimed to develop practical programs to address regional challenges.

“So much can be done in this region by cooperating across borders,” said William Wechsler, senior director of the N7 Initiative which organized the conference held last week in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. The initiative promotes collaboration between Israel and Arab and Muslim nations that have signed the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in 2020 to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab countries, including Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“For example, water can be made more available, food prices can be lowered, and people’s lives can be made more secure,” said Wechsler, listing the advantages of potential cooperations.

Wechsler believes agriculture is an ideal basis for climate change collaboration. Not only is it a field where progress can be made quickly, it could also have a big impact on people’s lives across the MENA region.

Egypt seeks to address wheat shortages and inflation by implementing crops that need less water.Image: AFP

“If we miss the opportunity to address climate change now, the window of opportunity will eventually close,” Wechsler warned.

Although there are challenges to establishing governments and private sector cooperations, Wechsler believes those actively involved in tackling climate change and its effects are keen to work together.

“At the end of the day, scientists and engineers are practical people who are interested in solving problems, no matter where they are from,” Wechsler told DW.

Difficult to find funding for joint projects

For conference participant Faouzi Bekkaoui, the director of Morocco’s National Agricultural Research Institute, Israel has much to offer his country.

“Israeli expertise relates in particular to water usage efficiency, such as irrigation systems and developing more resilient crops and varieties,” he told DW.

Morocco is among the world’s most water-stressed countries, according to a World Bank 2022 report, and its agricultural sector is badly affected by the water shortage and climate change.

“Israel also made significant progress in biotechnology or genomics, and all these areas could be beneficial for Morocco, as well,” he said.

But funds for joint Moroccan-Israeli projects or academic exchanges are limited. Bekkaoui has now applied to the US-based Merck Foundation, which funds projects between Israel and the Arab countries that signed the Abraham Accords, for a grant.

The region lacks a tradition of cross-border academic cooperations.

“Most national research administrations … have limited pathways to grant research funding to foreign organizations,” said Youssef Wehbe, a researcher at the National Center of Meteorology in Abu Dhabi, in a recent podcast by the Middle East Institute.

Finding funding for cross-border projects to combat climate change is even more complex. During the World Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, richer nations agreed to provide adaptation funds worth $40 billion (€37.3 billion) annually for low- and middle-income countries from 2025 onwards.

But most of this finance is awarded in the form of loans for mitigation projects to reduce fossil fuel usage, such as installing solar panels or wind farms, which return a profit to lending nations, explained Wehbe.

In contrast, financing for adaptation schemes is low as they are “harder to fund and are less attractive to funding nations compared to the loan model, which returns a profit for these lending nations,” Wehbe said.

He calls for more globally oriented research programs targeting climate change “to solicit ideas from the international scientific community.”

Israeli irrigation technology could help other countries in the region, for example MoroccoImage: Menahem Kahana/AFP

Tackling climate change to reduce conflict

Agriculture and climate change expert Jamal Saghir, a professor at Canada’s McGill University and former World Bank director, also regards collaboration across borders as the best solution.

Regional cooperation is always a win-win situation and much better than national or bilateral projects,” he told DW. “Most of the Mideast countries are not doing enough yet and climate change is much faster.”

The Middle East is warming at twice the global average. This is expected to fuel competition and conflict over dwindling resources – making it essential for the region to tackle climate change and its consequences such as more migration and unrest.

However, Saghir believes the region can leapfrog these issues through technology. Here he seesIsrael and the Gulf countries in a position to take a lead.

“Israeli technology is leading in desalination and irrigation and the region would benefit a lot from these methods,” he said. The United Arab Emirates, beyond their thriving oil business, have also made significant investments in renewable energies, he pointed out.

“Joint collaboration will lead to new ideas in research and development, which can then be implemented by several countries,” he said. “What are they waiting for? This could happen now.”

Cross-border regional cooperation could help address water shortages before it is too late, say the organizers of the summitImage: Albert Gonzalez Farran/UNAMID/AFP

Building a basis of trust

Tareq Abu Hamad, executive director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, believes tackling climate change together with other scientists across the region could turn into “a great opportunity to build trust.”

“We live in a small region that is considered as a hotspot when it comes to climate change, and we do not have any other option than cooperating with each other to deal with these challenges,” he said.

Alex Plitsas, who is involved in the N7 Initiative, was struck by one scene at the conference that filled him with hope.

“The most extraordinary thing I witnessed … in Abu Dhabi was when a male Arab diplomat from a Gulf state wearing traditional thobe & donning a kaffiyeh sat with a female Israeli entrepreneur and I late at night,” he wrote on Twitter, “as they worked to figure out how to make people’s lives better.”

Edited by: Jon Shelton and Kate Hairsine

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MENA ‘injustices’ of climate change are highlighted by experts

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MENA ‘injustices’ of climate change are highlighted by experts

 

Washington:  Climate change is already taking place, and as temperatures rise, oceans warm, sea levels rise, and already scarce freshwater resources in some areas decrease, its effects will only worsen. Conflict and migration will be exacerbated by this, especially in the Middle East and Africa’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.

This was one of the messages from attendees at a panel discussion on the topic of “Climate Injustice?,” which was held on Wednesday at the Middle East Institute in Washington. How less developed countries are bearing the brunt of climate change.

 

In comparison to wealthy, developed Western countries, many poorer nations contribute less to the carbon emissions that cause climate change, but they bear the brunt of its effects, according to Mohammed Mahmoud, director of the institute’s Climate and Water Program.

 

According to him, three main factors determine which nations are most likely to suffer from the effects of climate change both now and in the future.

First of all, as sea levels rise, countries with extensive coastlines and island nations run the risk of losing land mass and flooding. Additionally, the intrusion of saltwater could “compromise” their sources of fresh groundwater.

Second, even small increases in global temperatures can have a significant impact on countries with a high heat index, particularly those that are close to the equator and receive a lot of solar radiation.

The third and most crucial factor, according to Mahmoud, is the present scarcity of fresh water in some nations.

The distinction between these broad categories is made interesting by the fact that they are all found in the Middle East and North Africa region, the author continued. The likelihood of crises related to climate change increases as more of these problems are faced by nations in the region.

 

The panelists concurred that a country’s ability to effectively combat the impending threats of climate change is greatly influenced by its economic strength, or lack thereof.

Countries in East Africa, for instance, which are already dealing with the worst drought in decades and have fragile economies, will be less able to deal with the effects of climate change than, say, a Gulf country like Bahrain, which is water-stressed but much better equipped economically to deal with potential problems

Mahmoud stressed the importance of nations’ financial capacity to address climate change-related issues, including their ability to pay for the tools and technologies they require to address their particular issues. The right education and training must also be a part of the overall plan to lessen the effects of climate change, he continued.

Financial stability is crucial, but according to Ayat Soliman, the World Bank’s regional director for sustainable development for Eastern and Southern Africa, there is a certain amount of “injustice” in how various countries are impacted by the global issue of climate change.

She claimed that “we see climate charts are increasing in terms of its intensity” in Africa and the Middle East. She added that many parts of Africa, for instance, are going through their worst drought in years and that millions of people are going hungry.

Since some of the most vulnerable people in the world are being impacted by climate change in Africa, Soliman predicted that there will be a large-scale migration as a result. According to World Bank research, about 90 million people will be forced to leave their homes and find new residences over the course of the next 20 years as a result of the effects of climate change. The already pressing problem of food security in less developed countries will be exacerbated by this.

Soliman predicted that the majority of those packing up and moving will be the poor, the weak, and those who live in rural areas. Conflicts all over the world are and will continue to be caused by climate stress.

 

The president and co-founder of the Mediterranean Youth Climate Network, Hajar Khamlichi, stated that young people in the most severely affected areas have a crucial role to play in the successful implementation of international agreements that guide global action on climate change. As a result, it is crucial that they participate in the process and are heard, which is not always the case.

He added that this failure has an impact on national and international strategies to combat the effects of climate change. “The voice of young people is not heard in the Arab World,” he said.

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