EPA signs cooperation agreement with UNEP
KUWAIT: Public Authority for Environment (EPA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) to write up Kuwait’s second UNDP Country Programme Document related to climate change.
Regional Director and Representative for the UNEP Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) Iyad Abumoghli told the press, Sunday, that Kuwait is expressing keenness on the UN agreements on climate change; this interest is apparent in the Kuwaiti leadership’s recent participation in the UN meeting of states parties on climate change (COP22) which took place in Marrakesh on November 16.
EPA has been a link of communication between UNEP and Kuwait since the latter signed United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994 and Kyoto Protocol in 2005, he said. He added that Kuwait has been submitting its required reports on its climate change, which comprise changes happening to temperature, the levels of rains and sea rise, in addition to the increase of sand storms. These reports are essential tools for the UNEP in giving a comprehensive evaluation on how these changes impact the economic and social aspects of the country and in helping finding solutions to overcome these climate challenges. Abumoghli explained that completing Kuwait’s second Country Programme Document will take three years and it will be fully funded by international environment organizations, hoping it will be handed over by 2019. EPA will lead the project of writing up this document with the help of many local institutes, he pointed out.
Kuwait’s first UNDP Country Programme Document indicated to many changes occurring in the country’s climate such as the decrease of rain levels subsequently causing sandstorms increased. The report also showed an increase of the average rate of temperature by 1.6, predicting that this rate will be at 28.7 Celsius by 2035. Furthermore, due to the coastal nature of Kuwait, sea level rise will increase leading to a loss of 1.4 percent to 3 percent of land. —KUNA