A Campaign Launched by Yalla Healthy Living
Overview
Our region is warming at twice the global average and we can expect an increase in temperature of 4 degrees Celsius by 2050. With many of our cities already experiencing record temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius, we are very worried that many of our cities will be uninhabitable by the end of the century, with average temperatures exceeding 60 degrees Celsius.
Our cities are critical to the survival of our region, with already 65 percent of the population living in urban areas and also with this population expected to double by 2050.
We are very worried that our cities will face serious threats to their survival, with chronic water shortages, difficulties growing food due to extreme weather and related draughts, heat related death and health problems, social unrest and potential political conflicts over resources. We are also worried that no one seems to own the problem of our cities overheating, nor are people aware of some of the practical solutions that can be employed.
We believe that we must encourage action in our cities to both prevent further warming of our planet and to urgently begin adapting to climate change so that we can live sustainability and a have a promising future.
Our Cool Cities and ME ( Middle East) campaign has two goals, first to raise awareness about the urgency of taking action to mitigate the impacts of climate change and rising temperatures on our cities, and the secondly, to take direct and immediate actions to help our cities adapt to rising temperatures by taking actions that will start cooling cities now.
Raising Awareness on the Urgency of Taking Action to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change and Rising Temperatures on our Cities
Our campaign calls on all sectors of our cities (government, business and civil society) to focus on 6 main actions to cool our cities:
- Reduce Our Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Expand Use of Renewables and Climate friendly Energy Resources
- Change Our Food System and Diets by Adopting Plant Based Diets and Using Alternative Protein Sources
- Shift to Eco-friendly Infrastructure that is Sustainable and Equitable
- Promote Green Innovation and Growth to Drive Our Economies and Create Jobs
- Build Biodiversity into our Cities through use of Landscapes, Urban Planning and through Building More Biodiversity Parks
- Promote Sustainable Consumption and Lifestyles to Minimize our Impacts on the Environment.
Taking Immediate Action: Our Campaign to Deliver One Million Cool Roofs, Cool Walls, Cool Trees and Cool Innovations to Stop the Progress to 60C and to Start Cooling our Cities Now in the Middle East.
We believe that we cannot wait for 2030 and 2050 to see changes emerging from our awareness raising and proposed mitigation actions. While these will be important, there are actions we can take now that are affordable, based on existing technology and knowledge, and that can have an immediate impact on the rising temperatures in our cities. As part of our campaign, we will accelerate the introduction of cool roofs, cool walls, cool trees and cool innovations across the Middle East region. These actions need to be taken to scale and should not be limited to exclusive projects targeting those with high incomes in the region. They must also reach the most marginalized, including women and low-income communities who often suffer the most from extreme heat in our cities.
The goal of our campaign is to combine these different approaches to cooling our cities and to benefit as many people as possible. We plan to reach a million units, be they cool roofs, cool walls, cool trees or cool innovations. Central to our approach is to look for opportunities to reach scale and to do so as quickly as possible and through involving key stakeholders.
We plan to build a coalition of key stakeholders to help us drive this initiative across the region.
Through fundraising and partnerships, we plan to generate resources and to build momentum around our agenda. Our programs will be delivered through organizations that have a proven track records in the sectors and countries in which we will operate.
Our Vision for Change
The goal of our campaign is two-fold: first to build awareness in the lead-up to COP 27 in Egypt and COP 28 in the UAE on the urgent need for all stakeholder to act and be part of a movement to Cool Our Cities in the Middle East. We want to engage with key actors that can have an impact on our agenda, namely: policy makers; financial institutions; business and service providers; technology providers and innovators; and, civil society. We also want to mobilize our youth and other citizens to build awareness and help move this agenda forward.
Secondly, we want to take actions that will immediately start to cool our cities by accelerating the introduction of cool roofs, cool walls, cool trees and cool innovations across the Middle East region. We plan to do this through a building a coalition of key stakeholders and partners that will help us reach scale.
Target Audience
Our target audience are the youth and other urban citizens in the Middle East that are committed to Cool Cities and our action plan. We will also target key decision makers in: government; financial institutions; business and service providers; technology providers and innovators; and, civil society.
Measures of Success
Our most important measure of success will be if our key messages are included in the World Leaders Summit at COP27 and COP28 and, if we are able to deliver at scale, cool roofs, cool walls, cool trees and cool innovations in our cities.
A second success measure will be if our campaign in whole or in part is taken up by key decision makers in different sectors.
Another measure of success will be the uptake in media coverage from the region and around the world, and our ability to communicate directly to international and local policy makers.
Finally, we will also able to measure our success by the number of people and organizations that take-up the campaign.
This campaign is being promoted by Yalla Healthy Living based in Cairo, Egypt.
See www.yallahealthyliving.com .