Climate change is projected to adversely impact agriculture in the Sultanate of Oman and contribute to groundwater deterioration through seawater intrusion, resulting in sharply less cultivable land with access to irrigation using good quality water.
The World Bank Group’s Roadmap for Climate Action in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) also seeks to focus on climate action and green recovery in the region.
The action focuses on a climate-smart approach to agriculture and natural resource management to achieve food security and preserve biodiversity while ensuring peace and stability.
The Sultanate of Oman’s National Strategy for Adaptation and Mitigation for Climate Change (2020-2040) focuses on the use of advanced tools to establish historical climate trends to better understand future climate change.
“The primary goal of this strategy is to identify actions to transition the Sultanate of Oman to low emission and climate-resilient development trajectory. This involves addressing the adverse impacts across all vulnerable sectors due to climate change,” as per the strategy report.
The strategy seeks to focus on developing new crop varieties, developing simulation models of different primary crops, and continued economic viability under different climate scenarios.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources and the Environment Authority (EA) have supported the measures needed to reduce the adverse impact of climate change, especially limiting the annual temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century from current predictions of over 2.5 degrees Celsius.
The World Bank roadmap includes decarbonising energy and transport sectors through renewable energy sources and clean mobility solutions that can create jobs and drive economic growth while preventing health and environmental risks.
The report calls for climate-centric urban planning, strengthening municipal plans to ensure the continuity of public services, and integrated coastal management will help improve the livability of cities and mitigate risks in the face of increased climate hazards.
It will seek to ‘unlocking private capital, supporting national budgets and expenditures and strengthening financial institutions for green investments.’
