Climate Change Shows Need for Water Management
New York, Nov 3 2009 5:10PM
Water is at the centre of many of the worst natural disasters. Too much of it and there are floods that inundate homes and cropland and displace thousands of people. Too little of it, and there can be droughts that ruin harvests and destroy the livelihoods of entire communities.
Climate change is
only increasing the severity and frequency of such events,
and to devastating effect. Rising temperatures and sharply
fluctuating levels rainfall have the potential to
dramatically impact the availability and quality of water,
hurting the poorest the most.
A United Nations-backed
(http://www.unwater.org/activities_WDbcn.html) Water
Day is being held today to highlight how the issue of water
intersects with all adaptation efforts during the last
negotiating session in Barcelona, Spain, before next
month’s conference on climate change in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
The Day is supported by (http://www.unwater.org/flashindex.html) UN-Water, an
inter-agency group bringing 26 UN bodies and nearly two
dozen external partners together to enhance coordination to
deal with issues related to all aspects of freshwater and
sanitation.
The issue of adaptation to climate change
is “really all water-related,” said Frederik Pischke,
adviser for UN-Water with the UN Department of Economic and
Social Affairs (http://www.un.org/esa/desa/).
The
consequences of climate change, including rising sea levels,
will mainly be felt through their impacts on water, he
stressed.
The management of water resources has
implications for almost all corners of society and the
economy, including health, food security, sanitation and
energy.
Climate variability means that increasing
stress will be placed on water, requiring urgent action,
especially in the most vulnerable nations, according to
UN-Water, which cautions that without improved management,
gains made in reducing poverty and achieving the social and
economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals
(http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) will be
compromised.
The use of water must be “equitable,
effective and responsible,” Mr. Pischke
underscored.
National plans and international
investment in climate change adaptation do not fully take
into account the centrality of water, and any policy adopted
must ensure that adaptation is a central part of any
development strategy.
Therefore, “it would be good
if there’s strong reference” to water in the agreement
reached at next month’s conference in the Danish capital,
Mr. Pischke said. The current negotiating (http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/awglca7/eng/inf02.pdf)
text does include references to water resources.
The
UN and its partners, he pointed out, are already looking
into how what is agreed upon in Copenhagen “to trigger the
necessary action on the ground.”
Water Day, marked
on the sidelines of the Barcelona talks, will feature
sessions led by experts and advocates from governments and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focusing on water’s
relationship with livelihoods; ecosystems and forests; land;
regional and transboundary cooperation; gender; and
energy.
ENDS