Children's Climate Risk Index: Egypt Report
October 2022
Highlights
The effects of climate change and environmental degradation are fast becoming more severe, and their consequences more visible around the world. The awareness of the urgency of a decisive response at all levels is also rising, making climate change and environmental degradation an increasingly prominent issue in public policy. While the negative effects of climate change impact all people, children, especially those living in poorer communities, are more exposed than adults and have less capacity to respond, ultimately paying the highest price.
In 2021, UNICEF released the Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), published in the “The Climate Crisis is a Child Crisis”1 Report. The CCRI provides the first comprehensive overview of exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change from a child's perspective. The report is a contribution towards an increased understanding of the multifaceted impact climate change has specifically on children and of the actions required to increase children’s adaptive capacity and resilience.
Using the data and methodology of the global UNICEF CCRI as a basis, this report presents an analysis focused specifically on Egypt. The objective of this report is to shed light on how climate change is impacting on the rights of children in Egypt and to explore levels of exposure and vulnerability of children in Egypt to climate change. This report can also be seen as a call for policy and actions that can timely and effectively respond to the challenges that climate change brings to the realization of children’s rights in Egypt. Finally, the report can also serve as a contribution to the country’s efforts by promoting informed strategic decisions and solutions that protect the children in Egypt from the impacts of climate change.
Egypt is highly vulnerable to climate change, with projected increase in heat waves, dust storms, storms along the Mediterranean coast and extreme weather events2. Stronger warming has been documented over the past 30 years, with average temperatures increasing by 0.53 degree Celsius per decade.3 The country’s climate risks are and will impact the younger generations of today.
Crucially, the awareness of the importance of climate change action both domestically and at the global level is fast increasing in Egypt. The country is at a turning point in its commitment and action to tackle the consequences of climate change. The Egypt National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS), which is finalized, represents a milestone in this process, as it is the country's first comprehensive strategy adopted which is consolidating the different aspects of climate change and fostering the integration of climate change dimensions into general planning in all sectors.
In the 2030 Vision and sustainable development strategy, Egypt has also made commitments to integrate climate change in national development policies and to progressively green its budget across sectors.
