AFD and OSS initiative to reduce hydric stress

On November 5th, 2020 in Tunis, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) pledged to reduce water stress in North Africa through a regional initiative called “Water stress and climate change in North Africa”. For several years now, the region has been helplessly suffering from the ravages of climate change. In addition to this, man’s action on rivers, lakes and the water table is also a factor. As a result of this recurrent violence against the environment, North Africa is currently experiencing an average temperature increase that is 20% higher than the global average. According to the Mediterranean Expert Network on Climate and Environmental Change (MedeCC), if no further action is taken, the temperature will rise to +2.2°C by 2040 and up to +3.8°C in some countries by 2100. This would be catastrophic for the sub-region.

To avoid reaching this extreme, AFD and OSS plan to promote public policy dialogue in the sub-region (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) for a period of 18 months through the “Water Stress and Climate Change in North Africa” initiative. “In this context, it seems particularly appropriate to reflect on the potential contribution of non-conventional water resources (in particular the reuse of treated wastewater for agriculture, desalination or demineralization of water and transboundary fossil water) and to describe the conditions and associated best practices, as well as possible and particularly environmental risks”, says AFD.