Climate-resilient water management approaches: Application towards climate action and the 2030 Agenda
- English
As our climate changes, droughts, floods, melting glaciers, sea-level rise and storms intensify or alter, often with severe consequences to human lives and the economy. In order to ensure water security for humans and the environment while simultaneously meeting the world’s ambitious climate and development goals, decision makers and regulators will need to adopt a new paradigm for resilient water management that embraces the uncertain future ahead.
This is the focus of a three-day conference, organized on 26-28 October 2021 just ahead of the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), to raise awareness and build capacity around new approaches to assessing and addressing Climate-Resilient Water Management Approaches, including their vast potential within global climate policy and sustainable development agendas. It will combine expert panels and high-level policy discussions to provide concrete inputs to COP26, and for the implementation of the next phase of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP-IX, 2022-2029) focused on “Science for a water secure world in a changing environment”.
Time
from Tuesday 26 October, 2021, 13:00
to Thursday 28 October, 2021, 16:00
Programme
Tuesday 26 October 2021
| Day 1 | 26 October 2021 |
|---|---|
|
13:00-13:10 (10 min) |
Welcome and Opening Remarks: The Role of Water in Sustainable Development Ms. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO Mr. Johan Hanssens, Sec-General Flanders Department of Economy, Science and Innovation Session moderated by Mr. Abou Amani, Director of the Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO |
|
13:10-13:20 (10 min) |
Special opening remark: Water and Disaster Risk Reduction Mr. Han Seung-Soo, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea and Chair of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters, HELP |
|
13:20-13:50 (30 min) |
Keynote: Water as Climate connector Mr. Taikan Oki, Vice-rector of UNU, Tokyo Mr. John Matthews, Executive Director, AGWA |
|
13:50-15:15 (85 min) |
High level Science Policy Panel: Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down: Contrasting Paradigms for Addressing Climate Change
Session moderated by Ms. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, ADG for Natural Sciences, UNESCO |
|
15:15-15:25 (10 min) |
Launching of the policy brief “Planning Water Resilience from the bottom up to meet Climate and Development Goals” and closing Mr. Anil Mishra, Chief of Hydrological Systems and Water Scarcity Section, UNESCO Mr. John Matthews, Executive Director, AGWA |
Wednesday 27 October 2021
| Day 2 | 27 October 2021 |
|---|---|
|
13:00-13:05 (5 min) |
Opening Remarks: Bottom-up approaches to Climate Adaptation Mr. Anil Mishra, Chief of Hydrological Systems and Water Scarcity Section, UNESCO |
|
13:05-13:50 (45 min) |
Panel 1, “Incorporating climate risks into decision making through bottom-up approaches” Mr. Casey Brown, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA Mr. Alexis Dufour, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, USA Mr. Marc Tkach, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Zambia Mr. Chipili Chikamba, Millennium Project Completion Agency-Zambia Mr. Koen Verbist, UNESCO Session moderated by Mr. William Logan, Director, ICIWaRM |
|
13:50-14:05 (15 min) |
15 mins break |
|
14:05-14:50 (45 min) |
Panel 2, “Facing uncertainty in hydroclimatic extremes: flood and drought management under climate change scenarios” Mr. Mojtaba Shafiei, East Water and Environmental Research Institute (EWERI), Iran Ms. Shuchi Vora, Global Resilience Partnership and SouthSouthNorth, India Ms. Pooja Prasad, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands Mr. José Luis Gutierrez Ossio, PROCUENCA GIZ, Bolivia Session moderated by Mr. Ad Jeuken, Advisor at Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management, Deltares |
|
14:50-15:35 (45 min) |
Panel 3, “Water as a climate connector: water-food-energy nexus” Mr. Divas Basnyat, Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI), Nepal Ms. Kelsey Harpham, International Centre for Environmental Management (ICEM), USA Mr. Saverio Krätli, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and BRECcIA Programme of the University of Southampton Ms. Fiona Ngarachu, Kenyatta University and BRECcIA Programme of the University of Southampton Mr. Julien Harou, University of Manchester, UK Session moderated by Ms. Kari Davis, Technical Director, AGWA |
|
15:35-15:40 (5 min) |
Closing remarks and connecting threads through case studies Mr. Ad Jeuken, Advisor at Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management, Deltares |
Thursday 28 October 2021
| Day 3 | 28 October 2021 |
|---|---|
|
13:00-13:15 (5 min) |
Opening remarks and recap of Days 1-2 Mr. Anil Mishra, Chief of Hydrological Systems and Water Scarcity Section, UNESCO |
|
13:15-14:05 (50 min) |
Priorities and ambitions for COP26 and beyond: Aligning climate policy and finance policies Mr. Diego Rodriguez, Lead Water Economist for Eastern and Southern Africa, The World Bank Mr. Geoff Wilson, Senior Water Resources Specialist, Asian Development Bank |
|
14:05-14:20 (15 min) |
15 mins break |
|
14:20-15:10 (50 min) |
Institutionalizing solutions: Stakeholder buy-in and capacity building Mr. Jigme, secretariat, UNFCCC Mr. Koen Verbist, UNESCO Ms. Krista Decat, Comission on Integrated Water Policy, Government of Flanders |
|
15:10-15:30 (20 min) |
Participant Involvement - Advancing the Discussion to COP26 including contribution to 2030 Development Agenda Pre-recorded messages (TBC) |
|
15:30-15:45 (15 min) |
Closing remarks and a Call to Action Mr. Abou Amani, Director of the Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO |