Africa needs to increase growth rates in the coming 20 years to reach seven percent instead of the current five percent, Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy has said.

Achieving economic growth hinges on confronting the increasing environmental challenges, Fahmy said as he inaugurated a conference on national plans to adapt to climate change in North and West Africa Monday.

Adapting to climate change is a top African priority, the minister stressed, pointing out that the continent's ability in this regard is far below other environmental systems.

Building African skills to reduce the impacts of climate change has become inevitable, Fahmy said.

He pressed for developing a mechanism by which to bankroll ways of climate change adaptation.

The economy sure plays a role in supporting environmental issues, atop of which the impacts of climate change, Fahmy further said.

He made it clear that goals will be submitted to an international conference on climate change that will be held in Paris.

The minister also talked about a workshop that is currently held in Cairo, seeing in it an important chance to exchange expertise about environmental challenges.
Source: MENA