While the Arab region is already the planet’s most water insecure and food-import-dependent region, temperatures in the region are now rising faster than the global average, with climate change threatening to reduce food and water productivity by a further 20% by 2030, warned the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
In a report titled ‘Climate Change Adaptation in the Arab States’, the UNDP said in the Arab states, the causes of crises, food insecurity, malnutrition and vulnerability to climate change impacts are deeply interlinked and require multifaceted responses. The region is home to rising levels of conflict and the world’s largest population of refugees and displaced people. Simultaneously, it is now the planet’s most water scarce and food-import-dependent region, and the only region where malnutrition rates have been rising.
Over-exploitation of natural resources in the region has also led to severe ecosystem degradation. Poor land and water management are reducing the potential provision of already limited ecosystem services.
Climate change-related desertification has expanded in the region, greatly increasing the vulnerability of local populations. In fragile countries such as Somalia, illegal armed groups such as Al-Shabaab have increasingly attracted youths who have been affected by drought-induced food insecurity and have limited job prospects.
To overcome such challenges, UNDP is supporting countries in the four sub-regions of the Arab region (Mashreq, Maghreb, Arab Gulf and Horn of Africa) to adapt to climate change impacts and to prepare for disaster risks. The Arab region include some of the least developed countries namely: Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Arab region has 14 of the world’s 20 most water-stressed countries and 90% of the region lies in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones.
To foster climate resilience in Arab states, UNDP recommendations include:
- Building local capacity at all levels;
- Empowering local communities to participate in the incorporation of adaptation and disaster risk preparedness practices;
- Improving access to adapted financial services such as weather index insurance and microfinance services;
- Facilitating governance reforms for risk-informed, climate-resilient development;
- Identifying and incorporating the management of climate and disaster risks into all governance structures, policies, planning, and monitoring efforts;
- Reigniting growth in agriculture and pastoralism by supporting extension services;
- Promoting water use efficiency practices to improve agricultural and pastoral production;
- Strengthening national capacities to produce data for improved evidence-based decision making;
- Promoting diversification of livelihoods for farmers and pastoralists by enabling them to exploit natural resource-based value chains or to use adaptation technologies;
- Increasing public and private investment to boost productivity and reduce risks;
- Improving climate information data collection and analysis and the implementation of early warning systems; and
- Propelling women as key agents of climate action and natural resource protection. M