Climate connections: Aswan

The BBC is visiting eight areas of the world to find how people are preparing for climate change. BBC Cairo correspondent Christian Fraser reports from the Egyptian city of Aswan.

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8 DECEMBER 2009

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7 DECEMBER 2009

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BACKGROUND

Reactions in the Middle East to climate change are, arguably, more diverse than in any other region.

Opec is demanding compensation for potential loss of revenue if the world reduces its reliance on fossil fuels, and the transfer of clean fossil fuel technologies.

But some of its members are more ambitious. Abu Dhabi plans to become a world-class developer and producer of clean energy technologies. Oman supports global mitigation efforts, and a massive gas recovery project has cut its emissions.

But the Middle East - including countries which produce few emissions - already suffers the effects of climate change, as clearly demonstrated along the River Nile.

More than 160 million people depend on the water.

As less rain falls in the highlands, Ethiopia and Kenya are demanding more for irrigation, and the re-writing of longstanding treaties. When the water reaches the delta, Egypt's breadbasket, it is polluted and inadequate.

How will the Middle East confront these huge and diverse challenges?