To escape the choking pollution of Cairo, people are increasingly buying beach houses built on the north coast of the city. This has prompted tourism companies to completely disregard environmental damage in their race to build more summer houses on the fertile Nile delta region.

Egypt’s independent newspaper in English ‘The Daily News’ reports, that 48,000 tons of carbon dioxide protrudes our lungs and the overall census of cars not using natural gas is over 2.5 million.

Visible everywhere

Pollution is visible to the naked eye in Cairo and everlasting smog covers the city by day and night. These factors prompt a need to get out of the city and invest in coastal summer homes or summer resorts.

Due to the current state of pollution in the city, most families resort to summer havens or beach houses that have been constructed across the north coast from the early 70s.

Fertile land for coastal condos

Massive strips of the most fertile land in Egypt, also known as the Nile delta, have been used to build condos and summer homes that can accommodate15-20,000 people per registered coastal resort.

In Egypt, while numerous scientists are formulating contingency plans to help override a bleak future, the tourism industry seems to have no regard for the repercussions of climate change and is continuing the construction of building complexes on the Nile Delta. What of their ethical considerations and social responsibility, one wonders.

Research accumulated over the years make it clear that the ‘thinning’ due to excessive building of tourist complexes on the Nile Delta could lead to sea inundations in the north coast, which will lead to disastrous consequences.

Grave consequences

According to the Humanitarian news and analysis, (IRIN) - the rise in sea levels due to global warming threatens Egypt’s densely populated coastal strip and could have grave consequences for the country’s economy, agriculture and industry.

Combined with growing demographic pressures, a rise in sea levels could turn millions of Egyptians into environmental refugees by the end of the century, according to climate experts.

No consensus on contingency plans

Despite the possibility of such a scenario, scientists and government officials disagree on what contingency plans, if any, to make.

Worst case scenarios have been predicted by UNDP officials and scientists for Alexandria.

Mass displacement

“Taking the city of Alexandria as a worst-case example, it is estimated that a rise in sea levels of 50cm would lead to the loss of about 194,000 jobs and the displacement of about 1.5 million people. Flooding would threaten freshwater supplies due to salt water intrusion, destroy agricultural productivity and industrial areas, and harm the tourism industry,” said Dr. Mohamed Al Raey, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Alexandria.

“Egypt’s coastal area extends for more than 3,500 km along the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and is home to over 40 percent of the country’s 80 million, most of who live in the urban centers of Alexandria, Port Said, Dametta, Rashid and Suez.” Al Raey said.

According to projects of the UN office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Egyptian government has been working for the past 30 years on sea erosion reduction and shore protection measures, particularly by constructing dams in the Nile Delta, Mohamed Bayoumi, a UNDP environment specialist told IRIN NEWS.

Protection for whom?

For Al-Raey, the contingency plans suggested by the government aim to protect the tourism industry in the first place and are not directly related to the impact of climate change and global warming.

“The rise in sea level threatens Egypt's long coastal stretch on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea with potential damages to, not only the tourism industry, a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but also to the entire ecosystem. It is known for quite sometime now that Egypt is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change.”

Vulnerable country

“Egypt hosts about 25% of the total wetland of the Mediterranean Sea and has a shoreline that extends for over 5,800 km on the Mediterranean and Red Sea. While not a major contributor to the world total GHG emissions, it recognizes its own vulnerability to climate change in vital areas threatening sustainable development of its natural and socioeconomic systems. Of particular concern is the vulnerability of water resources, agricultural resources and coastal zone resources,” he added.

Adaptation measures

“Additional adaptation measures are needed to target climate change. This will be less expensive for the tourism industry than losing the beach completely. We are now working with different cultural organisations to raise awareness and get better answers from decision-makers,” he said.

The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) said that several measures could be put in place to deal with the impact on the coastal zone corridor, including beach nourishment (deposition of sand onto the beach), construction of breakwaters, tightening of legal regulations to restrict development in vulnerable areas, changes in land use and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM).

The objectives of ICZM, an approach also promoted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Egypt, are to protect the coast’s natural resources and promote sustainable development.

According to the European Commission, ICZM is a relatively new, multidisciplinary and evolving concept which focuses on information collection, planning, decision-making, and monitoring of implementation.