JEDDAH: The World Bank has selected King Abdulaziz University (KAU) to lead ground-breaking research into climate change in the Arab world, it was announced by Prof. Abdul-Rahman Obaid Alyoubi, acting KAU President. Climate change specialists from KAU's Center for Climate Change Research (CECCR) will lead an Arab team of researchers who will prepare a scientific report about climate change in the Arab world, said Alyoubi. He made the announcement in the presence of Dr. Dorte Verner, Senior Economist and Climate Change Coordinator for Sustainable Development in the Middle East and North Africa Region, and Ian Noble, one of the world's leading specialists on climate change, and other members of a visiting World Bank delegation. Verner lauded CECCR's excellence in pioneering climate change research in the Arab world. KAU has top scientific research teams, installations, research programs, and advanced computing facilities, she remarked. “This selection is an obligation – not just an honor,” said Dr. Mansour Almazroui, the Director of CECCR, vowing that the center would rise to the occasion. Speaking after attending a presentation on KAU's research capabilities, the delegates welcomed the prospect of future scientific and academic cooperation between the World Bank and KAU in various research fields. “CECCR is advancing steadily en route to world acclaim in the field of climate change research,” said Prof. Adnan Hamza Zahed, Vice President for Graduate Studies & Scientific Research. He was speaking during a meeting with the World Bank delegates along with Prof. Abdul-Rahman Khalaf Al-Khalaf, Dean of the College of Meteorology, Environment, and Arid Land Agriculture. “World Bank recognition is clear indication of the progress being made in scientific research in Saudi Arabia under the leadership of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and of Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, as well as under the supervision of the Second Deputy Premier Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of the Interior,” said Zahed.
