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Egypt lays plans, tallies costs as rising seas threaten Nile River Delta

Cairo has accepted a funding grant for climate change preparation, but experts fear the threats posed by rising sea levels and increasingly turbulent weather will outpace Egypt's ability to adapt.
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CAIRO — Egypt held its first Cairo Water Week Oct. 14 -18 to discuss Cairo’s concerns over the effects of climate change. The meeting closely follows the Egyptian government's acceptance of a $31.5 million grant from the Green Climate Fund Oct. 2 to protect the areas that are most affected by climate change, which threatens to flood the Nile Delta, increase desertification and impede investment for decades in coastal areas.

Egypt will use the funds on projects to reduce coastal flooding in five governorates (Port Said, Damietta, Dakahlia, Kafr El Sheikh and Beheira), a strip of land stretching over 70 kilometers (43 miles). It will also set forth a national monitoring plan on climate change and rising sea levels in these areas, a project that will take seven years to be implemented.

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