Egypt requires $900mln for climate change adaptation until 2030: Standard Chartered

1/15/2023 3:41:38 PM

Britain’s Standard Chartered Bank said in a recent study that Egypt needs to investment $900 million for climate change adaptation which will help the state to steer clear of losing about $8.6 billion that will have a positive impact on the Egyptian economy until 2030.

The Bank's recent study about the investments into climate change adaptation in 10 markets - including China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan – revealed that at least US$30 billion needs to be invested by those countries into climate adaptation by 2030 or the economies in these markets may face harm and their GDP growth may witness losses of $377 billion or twelve time such amount.

The study assumes that the world has succeeded in limiting the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement. It estimated that unless the minimum investment in that regard doubled to $62 billion, the potential losses may increase dramatically

Climate change adaptation refers to actions that reduce the negative impact of climate change, while taking advantage of potential new opportunities. It involves adjusting policies and actions because of observed or expected changes in climate. Examples of climate adaptation projects include introducing creative solutions to protect coastal barriers of flood-prone areas, developing drought-tolerant crops and early warning systems against impending natural disasters.

Climate adaptation protects people and places by making them less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. For example, to protect against sea level rise and increased flooding, communities might build seawalls or relocate buildings to higher ground.

According to the study, China can avoid estimated losses of US$112 billion by only investing US$8 billion while Kenya may avoid estimated losses of US$2 billion by investing US$200 million into a climatic change adaptation programme.

Moreover, the required adaptation investments of US$30 billion represents just over 0.1 percent of the combined annual GDP of these 10 markets included into study and far less than the US$95 trillion required by the emerging markets to transition to net zero carbon emissions using mitigation measures.

The study included 150 bankers, investors and asset managers and it found out that only 0.4% of the capital held by these respondents is earmarked for the adaptation projects in emerging markets where investments are most needed.