“Emad Adly”: Our Projects Combine Combating Land Degradation with Climate Change Mitigation
The 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December 2024, witnessed active and distinguished participation from the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP). The programme supports national and international efforts to confront the challenges of desertification and its negative impacts on the environment and local communities. During the conference, the SGP team delivered a comprehensive presentation highlighting the most prominent projects currently being implemented in Egypt with programme funding, all focused on combating land degradation and enhancing environmental sustainability.
The projects implemented in Egypt under the seventh operational phase of the Small Grants Programme include diverse initiatives aimed at rehabilitating degraded lands, promoting sustainable agriculture, supporting communities most affected by environmental changes, and improving soil fertility through modern, eco-friendly techniques such as drip irrigation and the use of organic fertilizers. These efforts ultimately contribute to achieving food security and reducing population migration caused by land degradation.
Dr. Emad El-Din Adly, National Coordinator of the Small Grants Programme in Egypt, affirmed that since the programme’s launch in Egypt in 1992, combating land degradation has been one of its core focal areas. Over more than 32 years, the programme has allocated numerous grants to finance pioneering projects for the preservation of agricultural land, implemented by civil society organizations and NGOs across various governorates of the country.
He added that the programme is moving forward with achieving the goal of combating land degradation during the current seventh operational phase (2022–2026) by allocating additional grants to fund projects in Upper Egypt and the Delta region. It is also supporting multi-objective projects that combine climate change mitigation and environmental pollution reduction with the protection of agricultural lands from degradation.
The projects implemented by Egyptian civil society organizations with funding from the Small Grants Programme demonstrate how international financing can create tangible change at the local level by providing sustainable job opportunities, improving quality of life, and enhancing communities’ resilience to climate change challenges. These initiatives also contribute to achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030 for sustainable development.
Through its participation in the United Nations Conference to Combat Desertification, the Small Grants Programme reaffirmed its commitment to continuing support for national and regional efforts to combat desertification, stressing that investing in the environment is an investment in the future of humanity as a whole.