UNDP launches Germany-funded SCALA program in Egypt under climate action

UNDP launches Germany-funded SCALA program in Egypt under climate action
By Marwa Nassar - -

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched the Scaling Up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture (SCALA) program, which is funded by the Government of Germany, in Egypt.

The three-year strategic program is designed to support transformative climate action in the land use and agriculture sections to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthens resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change.

About SCALA program:

Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt, said the program will support at least 12 countries. Its specific objective is for countries to have translated their NDC and/or NAPs into actionable and transformative climate action in land use and agriculture with stakeholders engagement.

The program supports planning and budgeting the much-needed shift to more sustainable land-use and agricultural practices. This action is particularly urgent.

Rising sea levels, droughts, floods, increasing temperatures, and other climate change impacts are projected to drive an additional 100 million people into poverty within the next decade if countries fail to accelerate the ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions.

Transforming the agriculture sector will be essential in protecting vulnerable people from these impacts, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building climate resilient livelihoods, and ending hunger and poverty to achieve the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

Repurposing agricultural support to shift agri-food systems in a greener, more sustainable direction — including by rewarding good practices such as sustainable farming and climate-smart approaches — can improve both productivity and environmental outcomes.

Globally, the SCALA program will boost the livelihoods of the 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide — many of them women — by ensuring a more level playing field.

Working in partnership with national governments, international organizations, and UN agencies such as FAO, WFP and UNESCO, UNDP’s vision is to transform food and agriculture to be more resilient, inclusive, and environmentally and economically sustainable.

The UNDP Climate Change adaptation portfolio, globally, has already helped improve the livelihoods of over 19 million people.

The UNDP helped enhance food security for over 6,3 million people and improve access to drinking water for 2,3 million people.

The UNDP helped bring sustainable agricultural practices to over 873,000 ha of land.

UNDP efforts in Egypt:

In Egypt, the UNDP supported the Government in the preparation of the National Climate Change Strategy and together with the Ministry of Environment, the program initiated the development of a Climate Change National Adaptation Plan (NAP) with funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

“I am particularly pleased that UNDP and FAO will work in close partnership with the Government of Egypt, UNESCO and WFP to implement the SCALA program, while also focusing on early warning systems and water related challenges,” Fracassetti said.

“Mobilizing strategic links and alliances between governments and the private sector, financial institutions and research organizations will be key to upscale climate action on agriculture and land use,” he added.”

“I would like to thank all partners present here today for their unreserved commitment and support for climate action and I very much look forward to continuing our fruitful cooperation and seeing the first successes of this initiative,” he concluded.

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