Cities in the Arab region should introduce stronger standards for green building and promote sustainable communities if they are to have a chance of tackling climate change, experts say.

 

The United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) estimates that 56 percent of the Arab world's population already lives in cities and urban centers, a proportion that more than quadrupled between 1990 and 2010.

 

It is expected to shoot up to 75 percent by 2050.

 

The speed of the urbanization process has put additional stress on social services and infrastructure in a region already deeply vulnerable to climate change.

 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects hotter, drier and less predictable climate patterns across the region, which could reduce water run-off by 20 to 30 percent in most countries in the Middle East and North Africa by 2050.

 

Water and food shortages, particularly in urban centers, are expected to be among the most defining challenges.

 

The Arab world already suffers disproportionately from extreme heat. A recent World Bank study, Turn Down the Heat, found that if the global temperature rises by 4 degrees Celsius, the average number of hot days is forecast to exceed 115 per year in the region's cities.

 

Unprecedented heat extremes could affect 70 to 80 percent of the land area in the Middle East and North Africa, it noted.

 

But experts say stronger governance and planning could help reduce this vulnerability.

 

One response is to improve green infrastructure. Several cities across the Arab region, like Beirut and Riyadh, have made attempts to adopt green building codes.

 

Egyptian authorities say they are working to finalize licensing standards that would help ensure new buildings cut their emissions and electricity consumption.

 

The buildings sector is responsible for more than 40 percent of global energy use and one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, the U.N. estimates.