EC4SDF approach
Community based and participatory approach
EC4SDF primary target groups as well as main stakeholders are the communities that we have chosen to work with. From the inception of ideas to the implementation and evaluation we ensure that the communities are engaged in a meaningful way in order to safeguard ownership and enhance sustainability of the project impact. We are committed to helping people build on the resources readily available in order to bring about positive changes.
EC4SDF believes that everybody has a right to participate in the decision-making process, especially when it comes to crucial issues such as climate change. We are aware that cultural norms, values and practices in many communities in Egypt do place gender specific constraints which particularly limit women’s participation in decision making and development processes. In this regard EC4SDF places special attention to women’s participation as the key-holders to sustainable development.
Holistic approach
EC4SDF emphasizes the links between climate change, economic situation, and poverty. Climate Change problems cannot be solved successfully without analyzing and addressing these links. This encompasses issues of adaptation, who pay the cost of increasing resilience of natural assets, how people can participate in decision-making that influences their livelihoods and their environment. As a result of this approach all implementations are designed to address these links either as direct interventions by EC4SDF or through some of our networking partners.
EC4SDF ’s strengths:
The foundation consists of a team of professionals, advisors, volunteers and support staff with multi-discipline expertise in Climate Change, Environment, GIS, Remote Sensing, Economics, Media and Communication, Agriculture, Law, Human Resource Management, Gender, Sociology and Project Fund Management. The EC4SDF staff have acquired competence in implementing core activities from a wide variety of trainings, professional exchange program with UNFCCC, IPCC, GHGMI, GIR, UNDP,UNEP, GRI and through experience from project management.
EC4SDF has a competent Board of Trustees with professional qualifications to assist staff members in any project and to advice the Organization management team accordingly.
EC4SDF has offices in Maadi, Cairo. EC4SDF enjoys good working relations with a number of development partners as well as with government bodies at national and local level. The organization values collaboration with like-minded organizations and have joined a number of local, national and international networks as a means to increase its achievements.
EC4SDF ’s achievements:
EC4SDF has a short positive track record of implementing raising awareness campaigns and capacity building for startups, incubators, and financial services in climate change aspects. EC4SDF signed an MOU with Climate-KIC to implement Climathon Egypt Series 2022 in several Egyptian governorates in Cooperation with Signify (PHILIPS) which will be launched in May 2022 in Damietta, followed by Alexandria and other governorates around Egypt.
Furthermore, EC4SDF under GEMEZA program has played a significant role in educating children and youth all concepts related to Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability using active learning techniques.
Finally, EC4SDF has been outspoken in advocating for the most vulnerable group rights especially in agricultural sector to get the required support from donors and funding agencies to adapt with climate change impacts and increase the resilience of their communities.
Geographical focus
In the Strategic Plan 2022-2027, EC4SDF has decided to focus on the following regions; Greater Cairo Region, Alexandria, Damietta, Fayoum, Bani Suef, Assuit and Suhag. However, where need arise EC4SDF shall be flexible to extend its geographical area beyond its main focus. EC4SDF has also identified five key thematic areas, which are strengthening Agriculture Sector, Raising Youth and Children Awareness, Technology Transfer for Startups and Micro Insurance with a special focus on women and children, environmental conservation and restoration in urban and rural areas and improvement of livelihood of targeted poor local communities.
EC4SDF Linkages
EC4SDF has a good number of partners with whom it is working with in national level as well as it is a member of Climate Action Network for Arab World (CANNAW).
EC4SDF Founder
Saber Osman is an Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability Expert with around 20 years of fieldwork examining the relationships between climate change mitigation, risks, adaptation, resilience, finance, and sustainable development.
Saber is the Chairman of Earth's Climate for Sustainable Development Foundation and the Managing Director of Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability Corps. 'ECCSCO'. He has worked on climate change and sustainability at different scales with NGOs, Private Sector and Government, which has widened his vision to climate change and sustainable development and makes him able to use top-down and bottom-up approaches to develop the required strategies and plans.
He has worked for the government in the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, as former National Focal Points for UNFCCC and IPCC and former adaptation Manager, for UNDP as Project Officer in Egypt's SNC to UNFCCC and for GIZ as Climate Change Advisor in its Urbanization Program to study the impacts of climate change on Urban Informal Areas in Greater Cairo Region (Egypt).
Due to the increase of extreme weather events intensity and frequency in Egypt, he developed the project document of Egypt's Interactive Climate Change Vulnerability Map funded by the Egyptian Gov., and then he was appointed as the Project Manager. This project used GCMs and RCMs downscaling tech. with IPCC Scenarios and GIS tools to support the policymaking process.
He was one of the developers of the institutional reform of the climate change council in Egypt to ensure the mainstreaming of climate change in the central government and local municipalities. He also supported Green Climate Fund and Sustainable Finance actions done by the Egyptian government to tap climate funding and support Egypt issuing its first Green Bonds in the finance market. He also supported UNITAR and NAP-GSP in conducting skills assessments for the Planning, Finance and Environment ministries staff in Egypt and developed the required training plans.
He developed Egypt's National Adaptation Plan (NAP) proposal and submitted it for funding from GCF, and supported the Egyptian Gov. in climate negotiation; as a lead negotiator, Saber covers the following agenda items a) adaptation registry on-behalf of the African Group of Negotiators, b) Nairobi Work Program on-behalf of G77 and China, in addition to c) represented Egypt in the Adaptation and Resilience Coalition under UNSG Climate Action 2019 chaired by UK and Egypt. G77&China recognized Saber's efforts in negotiation, and he was honoured during COP25 in Madrid 2019.
Last year, he taught an Environmental Planning course for MSc students at the Institute of National Planning (INP). Saber is registered at UNFCCC as an expert and reviewer for National Communications, and Biennial Update Reports from Developed and Developing countries. Saber is a native of Arabic and fluent in English.
Saber Osman has a BSc. in Environment and Biological Agriculture from Al-Azhar University, Egypt, and an MSc. in Climate Change from the University of East Anglia, UK. He also has several diplomas, such as a Diploma in International Negotiation from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science and a Diploma in Natural Resources in Africa from the Faculty of African Postgraduate Studies, both from Cairo University, Egypt. Moreover, he is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Agri. (Egy) studying Extreme Weather Impacts on Crops.
