Impact of Climate Change on Arab Countries - (IPCC) - Working ...

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ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE 109 TABLE 6 DEGREE OF INFLUENCE ON THE TERRITORIES OF ARAB WORLD Country Percentage <strong>of</strong> total land area Percentage <strong>of</strong> total land area (including inland waters) having (including inland waters) having very low anthropogenic impact very high anthropogenic impact Algeria 84.25 0.58 Bahrain - - Egypt 86.37 1.85 Iraq 9.51 2.08 Jordan 46.61 1.65 Kuwait 0.05 10.47 Lebanon 0.0 18.08 Libya 92.46 0.27 Mauritania 93.84 0.02 Morocco 17.90 2.04 Occupied territories - - Oman 76.24 0.73 Qatar - - Saudi Arabia 49.24 0.58 Somalia - - Sudan 44.24 0.11 Syria 0.21 3.10 Tunisia 33.98 3.57 UAE 0.46 5.02 Yemen 49.09 0.17 Source: ESI, 2005 may alter existing competitive interactions and influence trophic dynamics with changes in predator-prey interactions (Thuiller et al., 2006). VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS Agricultural activities and urban environment have high impacts on the natural environment and as such the conversion <strong>of</strong> natural vegetation for human activity has important ecological implications. The percentage <strong>of</strong> a country's land area that has low anthropogenic impact is a measure <strong>of</strong> the degree to which wild lands that are important for biodiversity conservation still exist in that country. The percentage <strong>of</strong> a country's land area that has high anthropogenic impact is a measure <strong>of</strong> the degree to which a country's land area is dominated by high intensity land-uses. The percentage <strong>of</strong> land impacted by anthropogenic activity in the Arab world has been documented to be the highest in Lebanon with 18.08% and Kuwait with 10.47%. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania and Oman have the highest percentages <strong>of</strong> lands that are only impacted by anthropogenic activity to a low degree; the percentages in these countries are above 70% and reach as high as 93.84 % and 92.46% respectively in Mauritania and Libya (Table 6). The Arab world’s acknowledgment <strong>of</strong> the serious implications <strong>of</strong> climate change on biodiversity and the status enjoyed by pro-active initiatives undertaken can be deciphered by each country’s national reporting to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). An analysis <strong>of</strong> two main questions in the UNCBD national reports reveals a bleak situation into the importance given to this issue and the action taken. On the question dealing with the implementation <strong>of</strong> projects aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change that incorporate biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, only 4 countries have done so and 5 countries have such projects under development. The remaining 11 countries have not undertaken such projects, have not completed a national report to the CBD, or have not reported anything on this question. The second question concerns countries’ coordination efforts to ensure that climate change miti-
110 CHAPTER 8 ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY gation and adaptation projects are in line with commitments made under the United Nations Framework Convention on <strong>Climate</strong> <strong>Change</strong> (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In response to this question, 7 countries reported having the relevant mechanisms and 2 countries stated that these mechanisms are under development. The remaining 11 countries stated they have not implemented such mechanisms, have not completed a national report to the CBD, or have not reported anything on this question. More action is urgently needed in the Arab world with respect to properly and effectively responding to climate change. The number <strong>of</strong> species in the Arab world is low in accordance with their natural environment with total documented animal and plant species ranging from 9119 species in Lebanon to 2243 species in Mauritania. However, regardless <strong>of</strong> species richness, it is the measure <strong>of</strong> the relative changes in species diversity which will give insight into the vulnerability <strong>of</strong> a region with respect to climate change (Bakkenes et al., 2002). Although it is possible that dry-land species will be able to expand their distribution range, this is highly dependent on the species’ dispersal habits and ability to overcome natural or human created barriers or human caused land transformations. In addition to studying and projecting species reaction to climate change, it is as important to predict which species would maintain their current distribution as the net species loss in arid and semi-arid areas would lead to collapse <strong>of</strong> already marginal dry-land communities. As such, the Arab region which is predominantly arid (Egypt is 96% arid, while Jordan is 80% arid and 80% <strong>of</strong> the Abu Dhabi Emirate area is desert) is especially vulnerable to significant species loss. There is no consensus on how to map environmental consequences <strong>of</strong> climate change. Locations affected least and those affected most under different scenarios provide a framework for designing conservation networks to include both areas at least risk (potential refugia) and areas at greater risk where the rate <strong>of</strong> climate change may outstrip the rate at which many species can respond to change resulting in altered ecosystems representing new assemblages that did not exist in the past and therefore do not have past analogues (Saxon et al., 2005). The impact <strong>of</strong> climate change would not solely affect the species directly but would affect complex associations such as species mortality from pest
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Arab Environment: Climate</
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ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE II
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ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE V
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ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE VI
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ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE IX
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XII INTRODUCTION A number o
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XIV INTRODUCTION nology cooperation
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XVI INTRODUCTION The respondents to
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XVIII INTRODUCTION activities based
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XX INTRODUCTION by climate change.
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XXII INTRODUCTION REGIONAL CLIMATE
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CHAPTER 1 1 Arab Public Opinion and
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ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE 3
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CHAPTER 2 13 GHG Emissions: Mitigat
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CHAPTER 3 31 A Remote Sensing Study
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CHAPTER 4 47 Impact</strong
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