Resource Security: Switzerland and Egypt

Detailed examples of two countries with contrasting levels of resource security

Switzerland Yearly Precipitation

75-100 inches

Egypt Switzerland Precipitation

0-2 inches

Switzerland Key Data

Population: 8.8 million

GNI Per Capita: $89,450

HDI Index: 0.962

Egypt Key Data

Population: 113 million

GNI Per Capita: $4,100

HDI Index: 0.631

Switzerland Water Security

• Very secure, 84 on the water index

• Increased drought over recent summers

• Irregular weather patterns

• Glaciers retreating

• Increased issues in the future

Egypt Water Security

• High stress, 45 on the water index

• almost entirely reliant on the Nile(+ aquifers)

• Salination with sea level rise + saltwater intrusion

• Dropping aquifer levels

• Drought

• GERD

Switzerland Food Security

• high up in the overall food security index, score of 78.2, ranked 11th in the world.

• food availability, ranked as the 5th best country, score of 76.8.

• overall health of rivers and lakes in switzerland is quite low

• 59% gross self-sufficiency rate(2015)

• varies across products; almost 100% of animal foodstuffs but only around 40% for plant-based foods. As well as this, this only indicates a theoretical relationship and not a real statistic.

Egypt Food Security

• Every decade loses 2% of its arable land due to urbanisation

• world’s largest wheat importer

• imports over 50% of its food and agricultural products

• overall food security index, score of 56.0, ranked 77th in the world

• 51st in sustainability and adaptation, 55.8

Possibilities:

• New Delta → west of the Nile Delta creating the world’s largest artificial river(114km)

• Water will be filthy

• $9.7B, announced March 2021

Switzerland Energy Security

• 80% comes from hydro electric power

• fading out nuclear energy

• 2% EFW

• in the future at risk slightly: climate change means eventually glaciers will run out and hep won’t work anymore

Egypt Energy Security

• mostly oil and natural gas

• small amounts of biofuels and waste, coal, hydro and other renewables

• 29.6 kt oil produced in 2022, reducing returns