IISD Reporting Services Coverage of U.S. Center at COP 22 - Issue #2

[IISD Reporting Services]

Title: IISD Reporting Services Coverage of U.S. Center at COP 22 - Issue #1

Having trouble viewing this email? Please try our Browser Version     U.S. Center at COP 22 Issue No. 2 - Wednesday, 9 November 2016 Event convened on Tuesday, 8 November 2016 Visit our IISD Coverage for Tuesday, 8 November 2016, at: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop22/us-center/8nov.html How Morocco is Advancing Clean Energy and Climate Adaptation at Home Presented by the US Department of State This session was moderated by Tomi Di Liberto, US Center. Alexandra C.M. Hadzi-Vidanovic, Middle East Regional Platform, US Agency for International Development (USAID), presented a number of projects and partnerships USAID has initiated in North Africa and the Middle East, noting the expansion of the currently limited USAID climate change response actions in the region. She highlighted work on ground-water mapping to improve drought predictions and preparedness in Morocco, Tunisia and other countries. She also drew attention to education research grants to improve renewable energy efficiency, noting that the project includes renewable energy efficiency aspects for academic institutions as well as homes. Hadzi-Vidanovic also described climate risks in the Middle East and North Africa, highlighting that extreme drought may have been a trigger of the Syrian conflict. She also noted the risk of urban flooding in Abu Dhabi, as well as dying coral reefs in the Red Sea, and threats to agricultural production in a 2°C scenario. She described drought as multiple dry years, and highlighted the Middle East Regional Drought Monitoring System as a partnership project working in Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon. She also introduced the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s ultra-low energy drip irrigation programme, which seeks to, inter alia, reduce the amount of energy used to pump water into irrigation schemes. The ensuing discussion addressed, inter alia: how USAID prioritizes projects in the region; wind power in Morocco; the most likely renewable energy source for North Africa and the Middle East; the USAID application process for projects in the Middle East and North Africa region; USAID project funding priorities in Morocco, including economic growth, education, and democracy and governance; and the need for regional cooperation to address climate risk. Throughout the presentation, participants watched several videos of USAID’s work in the region, depicting, among others, community partnerships to address climate change, reforestation in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, and the Strawberry King project. These videos can be found at: https://www.usaid.gov/ourhands More information: www.state.gov/uscenter Contacts: Alexandra C.M. Hadzi-Vidanovic (Coordinator) ahadzi-vidano...@usaid.gov This issue has been written by Tallash Kantai. The Digital Editor are Liz Rubin and Diego Noguera. The Editor is Leila Mead <le...@iisd.org>. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <k...@iisd.org>. Funding for coverage of the U.S. Center at COP 22 has been provided by the US Department of State. The opinions expressed in this issue are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funder. Excerpts from this issue may be used in non-commercial publications only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <k...@iisd.org>. Electronic versions of issues of this issue can be found on the IISD Reporting Services website at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop22/us-center/ You are currently subscribed to enb as: arch...@mail-archive.com View enb Forum            Membership Options / Unsubscribe Subscribe to all other IISD Reporting Services' free newsletters and lists for environment and sustainable development policy professionals at http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm