Cairo is grossly under prepared to serve one of the world’s largest cities of over 17 million. The economic and environmental costs of the megacity’s pollution and traffic congestion have been considerable.

Egypt’s greenhouse gas emissions have been among the fastest growing in the world. To alleviate traffic and reduce CO2 emissions by about 1.5 million tons a year, the Egyptian government is planning to cut vehicle emissions through improved public transportation, and make industry more energy efficient.

Six new bus rapid transit corridors in Cairo and light rail transit to connect Cairo with fast-growing suburbs are planned.

Five other African countries will receive in grants or low-interest loans to help a switch to cleaner energy and cope with the impacts of climate change.

Morocco will receive $150 million to establish a national energy development fund, which will serve as the nation’s central pillar of government strategy to pursue low-carbon growth and enhance energy security and pursue low-carbon growth, including a 600 percent increase in wind power and a 15 percent reduction in energy use in buildings, industry, and transport by 2020.

Meanwhile, South Africa will receive $500 million to support its goals of generating four percent of its electricity needs from renewable energy by 2013, improving energy efficiency by 12 percent by 2015.

The other three countries, Mozambique, Niger and Zambia, will each receive $50-75 million in grants and/or low-interest loans to help integrate climate risk into their core development planning.