Comprehensive United Nations guidance on water-related climate change adaptation strategies.
Evidence to date suggest that water resources are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, representing a grave risk to regions around the globe. Recognising the urgency at hand, the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes produced this adaptation strategy guidance report, published in 2009 by the United Nations.
Chapter one presents the core principles and approaches of climate change adaptation, followed by an overview of relevant international commitments. Chapter three covers policy, legislation, and institutional frameworks, while chapter four concerns information and monitoring needs for adaptation strategy design and implementation. The rest of the report discusses: scenarios and models for impact assessment and water resource management; vulnerability assessments for water management; adaptation strategies and measures; financial matters, and adaptation strategy evaluation.
There are many key messages highlighted from the report, which can be summarised as follows:
The world must adapt to climate change in water management immediately, with greater flexibility, and in a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach pursuing both action and research concurrently.
Climate change impacts are expected in Agriculture (irrigation), energy (reduced hydropower potential), tourism, fisheries, and navigation, as well as biodiversity impacts, requiring inter-sectoral cooperation and integrated water resources management to support adaptation.
Interlinked pressures must be considered in adaptation policy, such as population growth, migration, and consumption, and the potential for feedback.
Both cross-sectoral and transboundary approaches are required to prevent possible conflicts, and to consider trade-offs and synergies between adaptation and mitigation efforts.
Legal, institutional, and policy barriers to adaptation must be removed. International commitments, and flexible national legislation able to adapt to different possible climate impacts, can support adaptation.
Countries should focus on preventing transboundary impacts, sharing benefits and risks in an equitable and reasonable manner and cooperating on the basis of equality and reciprocity.
Knowledge, experience, and data must be readily available and pro-actively exchanged to enhance countries capacities to adapt.
Effective adaptation strategies should include law, economic, and education instruments to tackle short- to long-term climate change impacts, with cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and cultural compatibility all important.
Water supply and sanitation in extreme weather events requires special attention as serious public health issue.
It is ultimately far more cost-effective to start adaptation now, and should be pursued through a mix of public and private funding, and involving all stakeholders.
Education, capacity-building, and communication are all imperative for effective adaptation, representing an opportunity for innovation and new technologies.