Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty participated on Wednesday in a virtual session titled 'Water desalination... Local methodologies for water management and dealing with climate', which was held within the activities of MENA's Climate Week in the UAE. In his speech before the session, Abdel Aty pointed out the importance of accelerating efforts to achieve the goals of the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially the sixth goal on water issues, emphasising the importance of enhancing integration between the water and climate files. He added that this year represents a golden opportunity to highlight water challenges at the international level and their relationship to climate change, stressing the need for coordination between the efforts made by various UN organisations in the water sector. The minister also noted that in coordination with many countries and international organisations, a water pavilion will be set up within the activities of the UN's Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27) that will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh this November in order to achieve the desired goal towards increasing cooperation between countries, working to provide the necessary funding for water projects, and achieving integration between all water-related initiatives. Work will also be done to establish a policy dialogue to achieve the SDGs in areas suffering from water scarcity, which began during the fourth edition of Cairo Water Week in preparation for submitting its recommendations to the mid-term review conference that will be held in New York in 2023. Moreover, Abdel Aty stressed the need to develop national plans and policies worldwide, evaluate current national plans, raise awareness and capacities in the field of climate change in various countries, and take the necessary measures to achieve the SDGs related to water, noting that Egypt is working to integrate water issues within the national strategy to adapt to climate change.
