海角视频

Climate Vulnerability Assessment Framework for Egypt

Egypt

With the Egypt Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) tool, 海角视频 developed an innovative framework to assess urban climate-related vulnerabilities at the Governorate level in Egypt. The assessment evaluates the impact on both infrastructure and urban communities while measuring existing and lacking adaptive capacities.

The client, Deutsche Gesellschaft f眉r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, commissioned 海角视频 to design a methodology that could be applied across all governorates in Egypt.

The project goals were to create and test this tool and to provide training for future users from General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP), Egypt’s national planning body, affiliated to the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities.

海角视频 was commissioned by GIZ to develop a framework designed to assess urban climate vulnerabilities at the Governorate level in Egypt.

The Climate Vulnerability Assessment tool includes four sub-assessments namely exposure, physical sensitivity, socio-economic sensitivity, and adaptive capacities.

We conducted workshops to integrate climate considerations into the standard planning processes of Egypt鈥檚 General Organization of Physical Planning.

The CVA tool was successfully piloted in the Governorate of Alexandria. Results have been showcased by GOPP at the World Urban Forum (WUF12).

Challenge

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today and, combined with a growing global population, increased demand for water, food and energy, as well as high resource consumption, it will continue to increase global resource scarcity and pressure on ecosystems and societies. The impacts of climate change are diverse, ranging from severe floods, storms, droughts and heat waves to the destruction of ecosystems such as forests and soils.

Climate change has a significant impact on cities and urban communities in Egypt, and it poses various challenges to the country’s environment, economy, and society. To adapt to the current and future impacts, vulnerability to climate change must first be assessed in order to identify highly vulnerable areas and the prioritisation for adaptation interventions. Analysing vulnerability helps to better understand the cause-effect relationships behind climate change and its impact on communities, economic sectors and infrastructure systems.

In this context, the aim of the assignment was to build awareness and integrate climate change considerations into GOPP鈥檚 planning processes. At the same time, the team had to address challenges in data availability and granularity. To address this challenge, the project team conducted numerous stakeholder workshops to build awareness and develop a tailored tool, responding to the organisation鈥檚 requirements.

Solution

To identify and analyse climate-related vulnerabilities in various environments and communities, an tool for conducting a Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) methodology was developed. The findings from the CVA provide the foundation for adapting to the impacts of climate change.

The CVA鈥檚 framework is divided into four sub-assessments: Exposure, Physical Sensitivity, Socio-Economic Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity. The goal is for GOPP in Egypt to use this tool to investigate urban climate vulnerabilities at the governorate level, identifying specific areas and local vulnerable hotspots.

The exposure assessment examines how specific climate hazards will affect the entire region. The assessment process includes geospatial analysis as well as qualitative data in order to assess the exposure of different urban areas across the governorate.

Physical sensitivity assesses which infrastructures are prevalent in the specific governorate. This evaluation used 29 indicators across eight categories, including: Communication, Transportation, Waste and Water, Medical Facilities, Energy Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Housing and Community Facilities, and Food Supply.

Socio-economic sensitivity looks at the distribution of vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, children, and those with limited financial resources. This assessment summarised 17 indicators across five categories: Income and Occupation, Physical Mobility and Health, Demographics, Community, and Education.

In the adaptive capacity assessment, existing policies, projects, or initiatives within the respective governorate that address climate vulnerabilities and adaptation action.

In the final assessment, the combination of the sub-assessments provide the final vulnerability assessment and rating. The tool developed by 海角视频 includes an assessment matrix, complemented by a detailed user manual on geospatial workflows and future adaptability of the tool.

By actively involving stakeholders from the project initiation phase, we successfully crafted an approach tailored to local requirements and data availability. Moreover, this method seamlessly integrates with the established processes and workflows of relevant stakeholders, including various local planning institutions.

Value

海角视频 successfully provided an effective assessment framework accompanied by a guideline document that enables different stakeholders to identify key vulnerabilities on the Governorate scale in order to plan appropriate urban adaptation measures.

This innovative tool has been successfully piloted in the Governorate of Alexandria, where the project鈥檚 capacity-building initiatives were fundamental to strengthening knowledge on urban climate vulnerabilities. These capacity building activities equipped the technical staff from GOPP and representatives from the governorate of Alexandria, with skills and knowledge to effectively address climate-related challenges by conducting CVA through 海角视频鈥檚 approach.