The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed today a Joint Statement with the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on the sidelines of the Twenty-Eighth Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to promote joint climate action and contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the countries of the Middle East region, by activating technical cooperation between the two Parties in the field of combating sand and dust storms (SDS) in the Republic of Iraq, the State of Kuwait and neighboring countries, and confronting the negative climatic impacts resulting from them, as addressing this climate phenomenon and its major economic and health impacts represents a climate priority for the region. The Joint Statement also aims to frame cooperation between the Parties, in collaboration with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UNHabitat), the Government of the Republic of Iraq and other technical partners, within three main activities that include: establishing an operational system for modeling and forecasting of sand and dust storms in southern Iraq and Kuwait, developing an early warning system for climate risks for the population affected by sand storms, and providing technical support and applied nature-based solutions to manage water resources and reduce soil degradation to mitigate the severity of sand and dust storms and reclaim agricultural lands.

The Joint Statement was signed on behalf of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development by Mr. Waleed Sh. AlBahar - Acting Director General, and on behalf of the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office by Ms. Alicia Forsyth - Head of Climate Strategy and Coordination Department.

The anticipated cooperation between the Parties comes within the recommendations of the nineteenth session of the Joint Steering Group meetings between the State of Kuwait and the United Kingdom, which was held during the period 13-14 February 2023, in which the Kuwaiti side was headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Parties on 02 February 2020, which aims to enhance technical cooperation and joint work in the areas of economic and social development in developing countries, including joint climate action, bilateral coordination to respond to humanitarian crises and natural disasters, and the exchange of technical expertise and information.