A global crisis has shocked the world. It is causing a tragic number of deaths, making people afraid to leave home, and leading to economic hardship not seen in many generations. Its effects are rippling across the world.
Obviously, I am talking about COVID-19. But in just a few decades, the same description will fit another global crisis: climate change. As awful as this pandemic is, climate change could be worse.
Egypt and Sudan have pulled out of talks with Ethiopia over a disputed Nile dam being built by Addis Ababa, with Cairo saying they were protesting against the Horn of Africa nation’s breach of agreements reached by the three nations’ leaders and their irrigation ministers.
Sudan warned on Thursday that millions of lives will be at "great risk" if Ethiopia unilaterally fills its Nile mega-dam without reaching a deal with downstream Cairo and Khartoum.
Tensions are high between upstream Ethiopia and the two other countries after recent talks failed to produce a deal on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Addis Ababa plans to start filling the dam, located on the Blue Nile, next month.
To effectively combat climate change, we need to change the way we build cities, regulate land use and stimulate new green agricultural revolution, and produce clean energy, among other concrete measures, world leaders said during the sixth World Green Economy Summit (WGES) in Dubai on Sunday.
The summit derives its agenda from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai’s forward-thinking directives to balance economic growth with the sustainability of natural and environmental resources. It saw the coming of minds of world leaders, former heads of states, government officials, private sector, entrepreneurs and students to discuss concrete steps to take against climate change.
