Water is vital to life. The absence of water
will threaten our human rights to water and sanitation. Climate change affects
both the quantity and quality of water. These effects manifest as water
scarcity, drought, pollution, uncertainty about precipitation, extreme weather
and more. Water also effects every aspect of our life and economy, including
through human health, food security, energy production, economy growth,
ecosystems, and industrial growth.
In the nine-page executive summary of the UN's
World Water Development Report 2020: Water and Climate Change, it is made clear
that the world and its governments must prioritize creative adaptation and
mitigation strategies to ensure peoples’ access to water. The report states
that adaptation measures (which moderate harm or exploit beneficial
opportunities from climate change) are more present in water-related sectors,
whereas mitigation measures (which are human interventions that reduce the
sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases) are not yet recognized in the
water sector.
It is increasingly necessary to improve and
adapt water-related infrastructure.
The report also recommends increased investment in unconventional water
sources, which include. Some water reuse efforts, desalination plants, the
restoration and conservation of wetlands, and fog water collection projects
like what we have at Dar Si Hmad.
Food
and agriculture also need to be reformed, but face two
challenges. First, the industry must adapt its existing models for shifts in
the climate – e.g. adjust farming for increased temperatures. Second, the
industry must decarbonize through carbon sequestration, emissions reduction
through land and water management, or climate-smart agriculture.
Climate change initiatives should also
spotlight energy, since two-thirds
of the world’s anthropogenic GHGs come from energy production and use. The
world must reduce energy demand and increase energy efficiency, and an initial
step to doing this is increasing the use of low-carbon renewable energy.
It is also important to consider the interlinkages between climate change
adaptation and mitigation measures. Changes in one sector and directly
influence the sector’s water demand, which can in turn alter water availability
for other sectors. For example, water use requires energy, which leads to water
reduction. If our sources of energy change or we need less energy, we would
consume less water, produce less GHG, and mitigate climate change.
In order to adapt to and mitigate climate
change, we will also need technological
innovation that goes beyond our current abilities to measure and react to
climate change. The report uses remote sensing technologies as a newer example
that can identify large-scale processes not easily seen in traditional
observation methods. For
example, remote sensing data for crop loss assessment can inform researchers on
the effects of flooding in certain regions. All of this,
however, needs to be financed. There are two things that must be done for
financing climate change’s impacts on water. First, we must recognize the
potential of mitigation in water and sanitation projects, and also increase
emphasis on financing climate adaptation.
Climate change will also impact the water
systems of human settlement. When
water is scarce, water availability is typically highest for large urban areas,
compared to small urban areas or rural settlements. This highlights the
importance of expanding the physical infrastructure for delivering water, while
also ensuring it is climate-resilient.
Equally important are disaster risk reduction measures, which include hard (structural)
and soft (policy) approaches. These approaches should build climate-resilient
infrastructure and strengthen early warning systems and communications services.
Regarding human
health, water-related health impacts of climate change include an increase
of diseases spread by food, water, or vectors, as well as deaths or injury
resulting from extreme weather events.
The report also addresses the regional perspectives and differences
when it comes to water and climate change. Specifically, it focuses on
sub-Saharan Africa’s water scarcity, Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia’s
differing precipitation patterns, Latin America and the Caribbean’s changing
water availability which is stressed by urbanization, inequality, and economic
development, Asia and the Pacific’s vulnerability do disasters and extreme
weather, and Western Asia and North Africa’s water scarcity.
In Western Asia and
North Africa, the regions most at risk are the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and the
southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula. The high vulnerability rate is
compounded by the lower capacity to adapt to climate change these regions have,
as well as socio-economic and political dynamics that may politicize or
weaponize water resources.
Climate change will affect water worldwide, so
it is important to governments to have effective oversight and coordination, while also collaborating effectively
with one another. The report stresses how around the world, marginalized
communities like women and the poor are most directly impacted by these
negative effects. The report states that efforts moving forward will require an
“equitable, participatory, multi-stakeholder approach to water governance in
the context of climate change.”
Text and visuals By: Gari De Ramos
Dar Si Hmad intern
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