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Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Briefing Note and Questionnaire
Engaging stakeholders in preparation for UNFCC COP-15
gppn
global public policy network
on water management
Briefing Note and Questionnaire:
Water and Climate Change
Adaptation
Engaging global stakeholders in preparation for the 15th
Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
Stakeholder Forum ● SIWI ● http:gppn.stakeholderforum.org
Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Briefing Note and Questionnaire
Engaging stakeholders in preparation for UNFCC COP-15
Introduction
International efforts to combat climate change have centred thus far on limiting greenhouse gas
emissions by humans, particularly the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. These efforts
reflect an attempt to tackle the cause of the problem, and are referred to in climate change
terminology as mitigation. However, there is growing momentum on efforts to better understand
the vulnerability of humans and natural systems to the impacts of both current climate and future
climate change, and how they can prepare for and respond to changes in climate, This approach is
referred to as adaptation, and recognizes that water is the primary transmitter of climate change
effects on human and natural systems.
Impacts of Climate Change on Freshwater
The changes in global climate that have been occurring as a result of the accumulation of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been linked to intensification of the earth’s hydrological
cycle and resultant changes in precipitation patterns which lead to increased flooding and drought.
Rising sea levels, combined with reduced snow cover and widespread melting of ice will compound
changes to freshwater quality, quantity and availability to human and natural systems:
Water Quantity:
Existing water stress in much of the world from irrigation demands, industrial pollution and water
borne sewerage will be exacerbated by climate change, which for many regions will result in
reduced rainfall, increasing temperatures and even drought, further reducing the availability of
water for drinking, household use, agriculture and industry. In other areas, increased precipitation is
projected to increase the risk of rain generated flooding. Warming temperatures and glacial melting
will also increase flood risk during the rainy season for the one-sixth1 of the world’s population living
in mountainous regions.
Water Quality
Water acquires most of its geochemical and biochemical substance during its cycle from clouds to
rivers, through the biosphere, soils and geological layers. Changes in the amounts or patterns of
precipitation will change the route/ residence time of water in the watershed, thereby affecting its
quality. As a result, water could become unsuitable as a resource if newly-acquired qualities make it
unfit for required use.
Accessibility:
As water quantity and quality decreases, competition for available resources will intensify. Demand
for agricultural and domestic water in particular increases significantly at hotter and drier times of
the year. Meanwhile, demands of industry are expected to become a greater issue in the
competition for dwindling resources. In the event of decreasing water tables as a result of climate
change, industrial needs will be forced to compete with agricultural and domestic water supply
sources, and could lead to conflict.
Water Resources
Changes in freshwater quality, quantity and accessibility will have significant impacts on water
resources for both human and natural systems, for example:
Agriculture
The main competition for water over the next century will be between agriculture and the
environment. Research estimates that globally, agriculture uses between 70 to 90% of developed
1
Climate Change and Water Resources, (Wateraid May 2007)
http://www.wateraid.org/documents/climate_change_and_water_resources_1.pdf
Stakeholder Forum ● SIWI ● http:gppn.stakeholderforum.org
Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Briefing Note and Questionnaire
Engaging stakeholders in preparation for UNFCC COP-15
water supplies with the livelihoods of 70% of the world’s poor dependent largely on farming 2.
Competition for water, the high investment costs and frequency of pollution of rivers and drying up
of wetlands resulting from irrigation development means that the scope for expansion of irrigation is
limited in many parts of the world. Increased water efficiency and enhanced agricultural productivity
is therefore imperative if water availability decreases.
Rain-fed agriculture is and will remain the dominant source of staple food production for most of the
world’s rural poor. Many are struggling to cope with current rainfall variability, and predictions of the
impact of climate change suggest this variability is likely to increase 3. Declining crop yields due to
decreased water supply are likely to leave hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or
purchase sufficient food supplies, making it increasingly unviable to grow certain products in certain
regions, and leading to greater food insecurity, particularly in Africa.
Ecosystems
Environmental flows refer to the amount of water considered sufficient for protecting the structure
and functioning of ecosystems and their dependent species. As climate change-induced water
scarcity increases and populations grow in many parts of the world, effective and equitable
management of water resources become critical for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Aquatic ecosystems in particular, such as rivers, wetlands, estuaries and coastal areas provide
many services contributing to human well-being. Maintenance of the integrity and the restoration of
these ecosystems are vital for services such as water replenishment and purification, flood and
drought mitigation, and food production. Fish production is among the most prominent of the
services from inland and marine aquatic ecosystems, with an estimated 250 million people
dependent upon small scale fisheries for food and income4.
Health
Rising sea levels lead to salt water contamination of groundwater supplies, threatening the quality
and quantity of freshwater access to large percentages of the population. In addition, heat waves
associated with climate change contribute to increases in water and vector borne diseases (malaria
already kills one million people annually, most of whom are children in the developing world).
Reduced access to clean water for drinking, bathing and cooking, forces the rural poor to travel
even further to reach supplies, and leaves the urban poor to suffer from exposure to unclean water
sources.
Flooding is recognized as one of the most widespread of climactic hazards, posing multiple risks to
human health through slow-onset riverine floods, rapid-onset flash floods, accumulation of
rainwater in poorly-drained environments, and coastal floods caused by tidal and wave extremes.
Floods affect mortality; cause injuries; spread infections as well as diarrhoeal, and rodent borne
diseases, and impact mental health5.
Integrated Water Resources Management for Climate Change Adaptation
Changes in water quantity and quality due to climate change are expected to have far reaching
effects, including food availability, conflict and stability, access to and utilization of water supplies,
2
Comprehensive Assessment of Water in Agriculture, (Downloaded 16 December 2008)
http://www.lk.iwmi.org/Press/releases/PR_040819_BluePaper.pdf
3
Adapting to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for the Development Community, (Tearfund, 2006)
http://www.ids.ac.uk/UserFiles/File/poverty_team/climate_change/adaptingtoclimatechange.pdf
4
Global Environment Outlook 4, (UNEP, 2007) http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/GEO-4_Report_Full_en.pdf
5
Floods, Health and Climate Change: A Strategic Review, (Tyndall Centre, 2004)
http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/publications/working_papers/wp63.pdf
Stakeholder Forum ● SIWI ● http:gppn.stakeholderforum.org
Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Briefing Note and Questionnaire
Engaging stakeholders in preparation for UNFCC COP-15
decreased food security and increased vulnerability of poor rural farmers (especially in the arid and
semi-arid tropics and Asian and African mega deltas) and biodiversity degradation.
Adverse effects of climate change on freshwater systems aggravate the impacts of other stresses,
such as population growth, changing economic activity, land-use change and urbanisation. Climate
change also affects the function and operation of existing water infrastructure – including
hydropower, structural flood defences, drainage and irrigation systems– as well as existing water
management practices.
Water demand is expected to grow in the coming decades with population growth and increasing
affluence. Effective water resource management that takes into account ‘virtual’ water flows (the
water that is used in the production processes of commodities) therefore has a critical role to play.
Unfortunately however, data for assessing the impacts of climate change on water resources is not
consistently available, leading to a great deal of variation in assessments of their nature and
severity. In some regions (as across much of Africa and Asia 6), data is inadequate or simply doesn’t
exist due to limited resources available for monitoring and assessment of water flows.
Tearfund and Wateraid7 point out that the water and sanitation sectors are among the weakest
performing Millennium Development Goal (MDG) sectors, with sanitation trailing furthest behind.
But they are also integral to the progress made across all other MDGs, cross cutting many other
policy areas including energy, health, food security and nature conservation, and making the
shared governance of water resources increasingly important.
International commitments in the area of Integrated Water Resources Management have not been
met in many countries, and capacity in many areas for implementing IWRM plans remains low. The
need for effective IWRM will become more urgent as the impact of climate change on water
resources becomes more apparent.
Financing for Water Management and Climate Change Adaptation
It is widely recognized that water and sanitation are vital to health and education, yet despite
increases in aid in the form of overseas development assistance (ODA), the share given to water
and sanitation is in decline, as these areas are not prioritized by donors or recipient governments.
Nor is aid reaching the poorest regions or countries. According to research by Tearfund8 less than a
quarter of aid for water and sanitation goes to the Least Developed Countries as donors are
increasingly investing in large-scale schemes in urban areas which are not benefiting the poor.
Studies published by the UNFCCC9 in 2007 show that the additional investment and financial flows
needed for adaptation to climate change are likely to amount to tens of billions of dollars annually
for the coming decades. Several proposals have been put forward to identify additional sources of
funding, but currently existing international financing mechanisms for climate change adaptation,
such as multi - and bilateral overseas development assistance (ODA), including that available
under the UNFCCC Convention, have been recognized as insufficient to the magnitude of needs10.
The Strategic Policies and Guidelines set out in Poznan’s COP14 Report of the Adaptation Fund
Board 11 declared funding for “low-lying and other small island countries, countries with low-lying
6
GEMStat, Global Environment Monitoring System (UNEP) http://www.gemstat.org/queryrgn.aspx
Sanitation and Water: Why We Need a Global Framework for Action, (Wateraid/Tearfund 2008)
http://www.endwaterpoverty.org/documents/sanitation_and_water__why_we_need_a_global_framework_for_action_web.pdf
8
Ibid, http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/Website/Campaigning/sanitation_and_water_08.pdf
9
Investment and Financial Flows to Address Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2007)
http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/gpicc/iffacc.pdf
10
Ibid, http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/gpicc/iffacc.pdf
11
Report of the Adaptation Fund Board (UNFCCC, downloaded Dec 19, 2008)
http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_14/application/pdf/cmp_af.pdf
7
Stakeholder Forum ● SIWI ● http:gppn.stakeholderforum.org
Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Briefing Note and Questionnaire
Engaging stakeholders in preparation for UNFCC COP-15
coastal, arid and semi-arid areas or areas liable to floods, drought and desertification” as a strategic
priority. However little progress appears to have been made at Poznan in terms of increasing
financing under the Convention, with the Fourth Review of the Financial Mechanism merely calling
for developed country and other Parties to secure the successful replenishment of the Global
Environment Facility so as to ensure that “adequate and predictable funding is made available for
the implementation of commitments”12.
In this context, funding for climate change adaptation needs to be new and additional, predictable,
equitable, and adequate.
Policy for Water and Climate Change Adaptation
There exists a broad consensus that, so far, water resource issues have not been adequately
addressed in climate change analyses and climate policy formulations, and that in most cases,
these problems have not been adequately dealt with in water resources analyses, management
and policy formulation. Water and its availability and quality will be the main pressures on, and
issues for, societies and the environment under climate change 13; hence it is necessary to improve
our understanding of the problems involved and adjust the focus of policy accordingly. Conversely,
climate change policy has not been integrated into water resource policy and management at the
national level – it is critical that provisions for climate resilience are integrated into national water
policy plans and IWRM processes.
12
Financial mechanism of the Convention: fourth review
of the financial mechanism http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_14/application/pdf/cp_fm.pdf
13
Introduction to Climate Change and Water (IPCC, June 2008) http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/ccw/chapter1.pdf
Stakeholder Forum ● SIWI ● http:gppn.stakeholderforum.org
Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Briefing Note and Questionnaire
Engaging stakeholders in preparation for UNFCC COP-15
Questionnaire
Name:
Organisation:
Role:
Major Group14:
The questions below are intended as merely as a guide for responses. We appreciate that
you might not be qualified to comment on all the areas outlined, and conversely that there
may be additional points you would like to add. We are also very happy to conduct a short
phone interview if it would be more convenient – simply contact Hannah Stoddart
[email protected], +44 (0) 207 580 6912
Q1. What measures should be taken globally to adapt to the effects of climate change on
water resources? What specific projects or initiatives are required? Please consider:
 Enhancing water efficiency in response to water scarcity
 Developing appropriate response systems to deal with flooding and its impacts on
health
 Protecting Freshwater Ecosystems
 Reforming agricultural practices to deal with the impact of climate change on water
resources
 The role of Integrated Water Resources Management
 The role of transboundary water management and Regional/International treaties
 The role of virtual water and water trading
 The need for data on potential climate change impacts on water resources
 The need for further research on water and climate change adaptation
 The role of national/country policy frameworks and governance structures for
Water and Climate Change Adaptation
 The role national and local governments and other stakeholders
Q2. What should be the policy outcomes at COP-15 to enable this?
Q3. What examples of best practice exist in relation to the above?
Q4. How can existing and additional funding mechanisms be used to provide financial
resources for climate adaptation in the water sector? What should be the policy outcomes
at COP-15 to enable this? Please consider:
 Level of funding required for water and climate change adaptation
 Integrating climate change adaptation into existing funding streams for water
management
 Delivering additional funds for climate change adaptation in the water sector
 The role of multi- and bi-lateral ODA, development banks and aid agencies
 The role of the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund
14
The GPPN is a multi-stakeholder platform – as such we try to engage stakeholders from each of the 9 Major Groups as
defined by Agenda 21, the outcome document of the Rio Earth Summit 1992. The 9 Major Groups are: Women, Children
and Youth, Indigenous People, NGOs, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business and industry, Scientific and
Technological Communities and Farmers
Stakeholder Forum ● SIWI ● http:gppn.stakeholderforum.org