CEDARE, UNEP hold workshop on enhancing urban climate resilience, improving air quality

CAIRO – 21 October 2025: The United Nations Environment Programme's Regional Office for Africa (UNEP ROA), in collaboration with the Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), hosted a thematic training workshop as part of the “Clean Air for Enhanced Urban Climate Resilience in Africa” project from 13 to 16 October 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.

This initiative was supported by implementing partners—the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Environment Pulse Institute (EPI). It also was funded by China through the UNEP China Trust Fund.

Air pollution is an escalating threat to public health and the environment in Africa’s rapidly urbanizing cities, said the CEDARE in a statement.

These urban centers are grappling with a unique combination of challenges, including rapid population growth, intensifying climate impacts, and significant environmental health risks. These factors exacerbate both air pollution and climate-related issues, leading to serious health consequences and environmental degradation.

Addressing these complex challenges requires an integrated, data-driven approach that supports informed decision-making, enhances urban resilience, and improves environmental health, the CEDARE  added. Many African cities lack comprehensive air quality and climate data, hampering effective resilience planning. Air quality information systems can bridge this critical gap by promoting data-driven policy decisions and encouraging collaboration between communities and local governments.

In his opening address, the former Minister of Environment and Founder of CEDARE Khaled Fahmy emphasized the urgency and importance of the workshop.

"This gathering brings together a diverse group of stakeholders to confront one of the most serious and escalating threats facing our rapidly urbanizing cities: air pollution and the intensifying impacts of climate change. From a public health perspective, the stakes are high. From a development perspective, the combined pressures of rapid population growth and environmental degradation demand a swift, coordinated, and unified response."

He underscored the significance of the workshop's theme "Advancing Science, Policy, and Implementation Efforts to Enhance Urban Climate Resilience, Improve Air Quality, and Promote Public Health,” stating "This is not merely a theme; it is a clear and urgent call to action."

The workshop was attended by senior representatives, from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Botswana, Rwanda, and Tanzania, besides experts from the SEI, UNEP Africa Office and CEDARE.

The workshop shed light on development of a multimedia digital repository serving as a science-policy-practitioner interface for the “Clean Air for Enhanced Urban Climate Resilience in Africa” project. It also focused on increased awareness and advocacy for improved air quality and climate resilience policies.

Ultimately, the workshop sought to establish and support African-led networks and partnerships, underpinned by robust knowledge platforms, to drive coordinated action on clean air and urban climate resilience as part of the UNEP Clean Air Programme.