Last week, Egypt opened its Centre of Excellence for Environmental Studies and Applications for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, dedicated to the study of the environment and the socio-economic impacts of climate change.
Speaking at the inauguration event, the chairman of the board and former head of Egypt’s National Research Centre, Ashraf Shaalan, said the centre’s board of directors consist of individuals from national, regional and international bodies and organisation consistent in their efforts towards combating climate change. Furthermore, he stated the need to combine and harness the rich experiences, efforts and opinions of these individuals in the fight against the phenomenon and its devastating impacts.
On its part, the centre will develop reliable environmental models and suggest pragmatic solutions to adapting and mitigating the levels of impacts of climate change in the country and region.
To achieve these priorities, the centre is expected to collaborate with ministries, research institutes, universities, experts, consultants, local government, civil society organisations, regional and international organisations, board members and other stakeholders.
High-level attendees of the event include of His Excellencies, Dr Khaled Abdul Ghaffar, Minister of scientific research and Dr Mohamed Al-Ạlqwṣy, CEO of Egyptian Space Agency; Prof. Mohamed Hashem, President of the National Centre for research, and Dr Mohamed Zahran, President of the National Authority for Dimension and Space Science.