This is a typical economist's statement and sums up the barrenness of economic thinking. There would be a huge economic gain for the small farmers of the delta who would continue to earn a living and for the nation as it saves money on importing replacement food.“The project to establish the coastal walls is a service project…without economic gain and, thus, you will not find a financier for this project from companies or foreign governments,” Ouda says.
If the sea wall project could be carried out using products sourced from within Egypt there is no reason why the Egyptian government couldn't print the money to pay for the work. The main problem would be that they import most of their oil and vast amounts of the stuff would be required to power the construction. That would have to be paid for somehow.
Putting the blame on Western powers who are fueling climate change is a bit of a cop out when a large part of the problem is the Aswan Dam and another large part is the amount of water taken out of the Nile upstream by the Egyptians themselves. The silt problem was pointed out to the Egyptians by many critics of the dam before it was ever built but the demands of technology were heeded first.
As the Russians built the dam and are responsible for providing much of the oil and gas that we all now use and are rushing to extend their exploitation of that resource to the Arctic perhaps they have a greater responsibility for the problem.Yet some have argued that as Western nations are most responsible for climate change, their governments should foot the bill on behalf of the developing nations most impacted by its consequences.
