Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Sunday, 22 February 2015
9:00–10:00
Registration
Opening Session: Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center (BACC, Lecture Hall)
The need to work on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming is an essential issue that needs our attention.
The alarming consequences are felt on the social, economic, and political level, requiring our action to deal with the damages while
developing and deploying new sustainable technologies that cause minimal environmental impact universally. RACC Alexandria
brings together a global community of scientists and practitioners to help local communities and decision makers solve the underlying
problems and face the challenges. In this Conference, our focus will be devoted to Sea Level Rise and Desertification as two main
consequences of climate change.
Welcome Note: Salah Soliman, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)
10:00–11:45
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Adel El-Beltagy, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (Egypt)
Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment represented by Mostafa Fouda, Advisor, Ministry of State for Environmental
Affairs, Nature Conservation Sector (Egypt)
“Climate Change and Biodiversity in Africa and MENA Region”
Hossam Eldin Moghazy, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation represented by Shaden Abdelgawad, Advisor to
Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation and Former President of National Water Research Center (Egypt)
Hany El Messiry, Governor of Alexandria represented by Soad El-Kholy, Deputy Governor of Alexandria (Egypt)
Koji Omi, Chairman and Founder, Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum, represented by Tomihiro Taniguchi,
Senior Advisor, Executive Director, STS Forum and Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)
Ahmed Hamdy, Executive Secretary, Scientific, Technical & Research Commission, African Union (Nigeria)
Keynote Address: Ismail Serageldin, Director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)
11:45–12:15
Group Photo and Networking Coffee Break
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Session 1: Socio-Economic Impacts of Sea Level Rise and Desertification (BACC, Lecture Hall)
The sea water rise and desertification socio-economic impacts range over a wide spectrum, including mass migration and security
threats, damage to property and infrastructure, loss of land productivity, effects on human health and potential spread of infectious
diseases, changing purchasing power and market flows, and increasing costs. The contribution of human activities to climate change
and its consequences during the industrial era has been responsible for and contributing to the continuous damage of the natural
resources. We need to reach a balance between our industrial needs and sustaining the environment.
Chair: Hesham Gaber, Director, Center for Environmental Studies, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)
12:15–13:45
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13:45–14:45
Omar El-Arini, Board Member, Green Climate Fund (Egypt)
“The Green Climate Fund”
Mohamed Abdrabo, Professor of Environmental Economics, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria
University (Egypt)
Ahmed Darwish, Assistant, Minister of Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements (Egypt)
“The Socio Economic Impacts of Sea Level Rise and Desertification on Urban Areas in Egypt, with Special Emphasis on Slum
Areas”
Daniel Dale, Land Management and Tenure Officer, FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa (Egypt)
“Global/Regional Soils Partnership and the WOCAT-LADA Tools for Sustainable Land Management”
Lunch Break
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Session 2: Biodiversity: Raising Awareness and Building Capacity (BACC, Lecture Hall)
Biodiversity is declining rapidly throughout the world including loss of species and many studies have been linking global climate
change and sea level rise impacts on marine habitat and species biodiversity. With sea levels forecast to rise 1 meter to 2 meters this
century, this is expected to have a primary impact on coastal habitat and biodiversity. As human populations also migrate to higher
ground, there will be some substantial changes in land use resulting in impacts on habitat and biodiversity losses.
Chair: Emad Adly, General Coordinator, Arab Network for Environment and Development-RAED (Egypt)
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14:45–16:30
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16:30–17:00
Ilya Zaslavsky, Director, Spatial Information Systems Lab, San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California
San Diego-UCSD (USA)
“Integration of Distributed Hydrologic Information for Desertification and Biodiversity Applications”
Mostafa Fouda, Advisor, Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Nature Conservation Sector (Egypt)
“Climate Change and Biodiversity in Africa and MENA Region”
Jameson Kugara, Chairman, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)
“Climate Change and Biodiversity: A Case Study in Southern Africa”
Nabil Bashir, Professor, Department of Pesticides and Toxicology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (FAS), University of
Gezira (Sudan)
“Impact of Climate Change and Pesticides on Migratory Soaring Birds”
Fredrick George Kabbale, Entomologist, School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University
(Uganda)
“The Influence of Weather Patterns on Biodiversity in Uganda”
Networking Coffee Break
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Session 3: Actions on Climate Change in Africa and MENA Region: Success Stories (BACC, Lecture Hall)
Scientists and practitioners have been working on mitigating climate change, particularly sea level rise and desertification, on the
social, economic, and political level. Requiring a worldwide collaboration between governments, public, and private institutions,
action plans have already been launched and validated. What works and what should we improve? Together we will discuss attempts
and exchange experiences that have succeeded universally.
17:00–18:45
Chair: Yousry El-Gamal, Former Minister of Education (Egypt)
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Mohamed Elraey, Professor, Environmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (IGSR), Alexandria
University (Egypt)
“Climate Change Adaptation Success Stories and Recommendations in Egypt”
Flower Msuya, Senior Researcher, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
“How Much is Climate Change Impacting Seaweed Farming? The Case of Zanzibar Islands, Tanzania”
Ahmed Hamdy, Executive Secretary, Scientific, Technical & Research Commission, African Union (Nigeria)
“Africa’s Science, Technology and Innovation challenges and Climate Change”
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Monday, 23 February 2015
Session 4: Food Security and Water Availability: How Shifts in Global Temperature Distribution Affect Us
(BACC, Small Theater)
The forces and stressors driving desertification as an impact of climate change lead to sweeping consequences that are not only
observed in the global food supply, but on an individual level. The effects cut into all four dimensions of food security: food
availability, food accessibility, food utilization and food systems stability. With a declining global crop yields, especially for wheat,
can terrestrial food production still keep up with the growing population and increase demand? Desertification raises a threat to life
and livelihood, to food stocks and human wellbeing. What are alternative national and international strategies and policies that meet
our future food demands on a sustainable basis?
9:00–10:30
Chair: Omar El-Arini, Board Member, Green Climate Fund (Egypt)
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Dia El-Din El-Quosy, Professor, National Water Research Center (Egypt)
“Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Egypt”
 Badr Mabrouk, Professor of Groundwater, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University; and Head, Water Risk Excellency Center
(Egypt)
“Global Climate Induced on Water Resources on Northern Coast of Nile Delta, Egypt-CLIMB, FP7”
 Salif Diop, Professor, University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)
“Climate Change and Its Impacts in Africa: Sea Level Rise And Desertification”
 Ahmed Abdelrehim, Regional Programme Manager, Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and
Europe-CEDARE (Egypt)
“Development of Climate Change Vulnerability Map for Egypt”
10:30–11:00
Networking Coffee Break
Impact of Climate Change on Dry Areas in the MENA Region (BACC, Small Theater)
11:00–11:45
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Adel El-Beltagy, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (Egypt)
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Session 5: Energy Constraints: Fossil Fuel Availability and Future of Renewable Energy (BACC, Small Theater)
Energy security is yet another result of climate change facing life and businesses. The world needs to promote a global green
economy and source more of our energy from renewable resources. How can we provide clean, low-carbon, affordable, and secure
energy supplies to consumers and the economy? Energy intensive industries face competitiveness problems, and solutions must be
discussed. Is the energy going to be distributed fairly in times of energy constraints so that the most vulnerable and poor households
are protected?
Chair: Yehia Halim, Advisor, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)
11:45–13:15
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13:15–14:15
14:15–15:00
Tomihiro Taniguchi, Senior Advisor, Executive Director, Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum; and Professor,
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)
“Fossil Fuel Availability and Future of New and Renewable Energy”
Hani El-Nokraschy, CEO, Nokraschy Engineering GmbH (Germany)
“Egypt's Energy Future”
Salah Arafa, Professor, Physics Department, School of Sciences and Engineering, American University in Cairo-AUC
(Egypt)
“Energy, Water, Food, Climate Change, and Future Challenges”
Essam Abdelmawla, Dean, Aquaculture Research Center, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport
(Egypt)
“Jatropha curcas and Ricinus communis as Energy Crops”
Lunch Break
Coping with Climate Change in Dry Areas: Challenges and Potential for Agriculture, Food Security and Improving
Livelihoods (BACC, Small Theater)
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Mahmoud Solh, Director General, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Session 6: ICARDA as a Model of Resources Management (BACC, Small Theater)
ICARDA is providing a concrete examples from field research in Africa and MENA on how to adapt to climate change through
better water resource management, plant breeding (heat tolerant/drought resilient varieties), livestock management and conservation
agriculture. These topics will be addressed in the context of adaptation to climate change.
Chair: Ismail Abdelgalil, Former Chair, Desert Research Center (Egypt)
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15:00–16:30
16:30–17:00
17:00–18:30
Theib Oweis, Director, Research Program on Integrated Water and Land Management, ICARDA
“Managing Scarce Water in Agriculture With Climate Change; A Need for Paradigm Change”
 Ibrahim El Dukheri, Director General of Agricultural Research Corporation (Sudan)
“Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture-stress Adapted Varieties, ARC Sudan”
 Adel Aboulnaga, Senior Researcher, Animal Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center (Egypt)
“Livestock Adaptation to Environmental Stress and Climate Change”
 Hichem Ben Salem, Director, Research Program on Diversification and Sustainable Intensification of Production Systems,
ICARDA
“Conservation Agriculture Holds Promise to Help Agricultural Livelihood Systems Coping with Climate Change- ICARDA’s
Experience”
Networking Coffee Break
Closing Session: Experts Sharing Experiences “Implementing Successful Solutions to Tackle the Challenges of Climate
Change Effectively in Africa and MENA Region” (BACC, Small Theater)
The closing session "Davos Style" is attempting to create an interdisciplinary forum to discuss issues related to global climate change
and its adverse impacts on human life and our ecosystems with special attention to sea level rise and desertification. The discussion
shall explore current state of knowledge on the technological, strategic, and social responses to climate change worldwide with
emphasis on Africa and MENA region.
Chair: Ismail Serageldin, Director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)
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Mahmoud Solh, Director General, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas-ICARDA (Lebanon)
Salif Diop, Professor, University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)
Hani El-Nokraschy, CEO, Nokraschy Engineering GmbH (Germany)
Mostafa Fouda, Advisor, Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Nature Conservation Sector (Egypt)
Omneya Sabry, Engineer and Vice Chairman for Technical Affairs, New and Renewable Energy Authority-NREA (Egypt)
Ilya Zaslavsky, Director, Spatial Information Systems Lab, San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California
San Diego-UCSD (USA)
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.
Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC) Alexandria 2015*
Climate Change and Its Impacts: Sea Level Rise and Desertification in Africa and MENA Region
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
9:00–10:00
Field Trip Orientation Session (BACC, Delegates Hall)
10:00–15:00
Field Trip: Northern Side of Nile Delta, Kafr Elsheikh
* This program is subject to change and the organizers reserve the right to alter the session topics, timings and speakers.