The land degradation and desertification-socioeconomic nexus in Egypt's delta region: A case study on Alexandria and Beheira.

The Nile Delta is Egypt's primary source of agricultural production. However, the Delta's capacity to remain Egypt's vital source of food security, rural development and economic stability is diminishing amidst persistent climate change risks. In this regard, this research gauges the impacts of climatic and anthropogenic factors on agricultural revenues and household wealth in Alexandria and Beheira, two of the Delta's most climate-vulnerable governorates. The research employs the Ricardian model by applying Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (SUR), to test the impacts of climate change on real revenues from agriculture. Results show that quadratic temperature negatively impacts revenues from agriculture in Alexandria, while employment in agriculture, irrigation, livestock and machines positively contribute to revenues. In Beheira, results show that temperature and machines negatively contribute to agricultural revenues, while livestock contributes positively. The research further estimates the socioeconomic impacts of land degradation and desertification on individuals in Alexandria and Beheira by using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) robust standard errors. Individuals' socio-economic status, proxied by their wealth index (WI), is regressed on the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI), gender, age, education, household size, work in agriculture and rural/urban residence. Outcomes reveal that individuals' wealth status in Alexandria is positively correlated with ESI, age, and education. In Beheira, land degradation, household size, rural areas and fathers working in agriculture are negatively correlated with wealth. Education, however, contributes positively to wealth. The study proposes policy implications that aim to foster the growth and development of rural residents in the Delta region.

Climate-resilient development planning for cities: progress from Cape Town.

Priorities and programmes in the City of Cape Town's Integrated Development Plan (2022-2027) demonstrate progress towards operationalising local level planning for climate-resilient development. These developments provide lessons of process and focus on transformative outcomes for cities seeking equitable and just development while implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Adaptation to compound climate risks: A systematic global stocktake.

This article provides a stocktake of the adaptation literature between 2013 and 2019 to better understand how adaptation responses affect risk under the particularly challenging conditions of compound climate events. Across 39 countries, 45 response types to compound hazards display anticipatory (9%), reactive (33%), and maladaptive (41%) characteristics, as well as hard (18%) and soft (68%) limits to adaptation. Low income, food insecurity, and access to institutional resources and finance are the most prominent of 23 vulnerabilities observed to negatively affect responses. Risk for food security, health, livelihoods, and economic outputs are commonly associated risks driving responses. Narrow geographical and sectoral foci of the literature highlight important conceptual, sectoral, and geographic areas for future research to better understand the way responses shape risk. When responses are integrated within climate risk assessment and management, there is greater potential to advance the urgency of response and safeguards for the most vulnerable.