CAIRO: The secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) organized a workshop in Cairo, from June 18 to 20, on climate related risks and the collaboration of global efforts towards creating methods of adaptation to climate change. The workshop, hosted by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), is the first to be organized under the Nairobi work program on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, which was approved by the annual Conference of the Parties of the UNFCC. The program s goal is to assist countries reach a better understanding of the impacts of climate change and, based on that, be able to reach better informed decisions. We have to start planning on how to deal with climate change and how to adapt to it because it will happen, it s inevitable, said Al Sayed Sabry Mansour, supervisor of Climate Change Unit and regional coordinator of Climate Change Agreement. Mansour added that in Egypt, adapting to climate is done on a natural-instinct level but is not based on scientific methods. But soon this will not suffice. If a person is not prepared then the individual level of adapting will not be sufficient. The workshop is global, whereby different countries sit together and try to agree on universal methods of coping with climate change and exchange previous experiences that can be built on. Experiences from participating countries were exchanged in various fields such as agriculture, water and health, said Youssef Nassif, head of Climate Change Adaptation Unit, some participating organizations announced their future efforts of support. The organizations will support, among other projects, private research and methods of evaluating the dangers of climate change, added Nassif. What affects Egypt is not just what happens in Egypt, it s not a domestic problem but rather has a wider context, said Ian Burtun, professor at the University of Toronto and global expert in climate around the world. Burtun added that so far it is obvious that people are not doing a good job in preventing climate change and that they are not getting enough assistance from the countries involved or attention towards the potential impacts. He does have hope that in the future they will. The second workshop will be held in Rome in September and will build on the findings and results of the workshop held in Cairo.
