[This is the revised version of presentation made by the author at 3rd Asia-Pacific Adaptation Forum held in Incheon, Republic Korea, on 18-20 March 2013.]
Impact of climate change on Earth’s ecosystem, the livelihood, and well-being of societies is facilitated through the medium of water. Variations in climate change affect availability and distribution of rainfall, melting of glaciers, river flows and groundwater, and further deteriorate water quality. Inadequate management of water resources can jeopardize pace of progress in all economic, social and environmental fields. Adaptation to climate change is intimately linked to water and its role in sustainable development. Essential adaptation measures dealing with climate variability and built upon existing land and water management practices entail the potential to create resilience to climate change, enhance water security and contribute to development.
Significant policy shifts, as ordained by UN Water, should be guided by the principles of mainstream adaptations within the broader development context; strengthening governance and improve water management; sharing of knowledge and data on climate and adaptation measures; and building long-term resilience through stronger institutions etc. Besides, apart from the requirement of local-to-global collaboration among sectoral and multi-sectoral institutions, the adaptation strategies are also needed at the local, regional, national and global levels.
Addressing Climate Change in Asia-Pacific
Successful adaptation to a changing climate needs sensible strategies that guide and learn from actions. Climate change in some situations demands new strategies – for example for dealing with uncertainties and change – but must also draw on experiences and insights from past strategies in development. For Asia-Pacific countries to survive and thrive in a changing climate, greater efforts are needed to mainstream climate change adaptation into national development policies, moving away from business as usual practices.
In order to salvage the vulnerable regions from the adverse impact of climate change, some regional forums have been created and the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Forum has been established to address the climate change adaptation related issues of the countries of Asia-Pacific region. The first Forum was held in the first week of June 2010 followed by the second Forum held in the last week of January 2012.
Third APCCAF
The 3rd Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum (APCCAF) was held from 18th – 20th March 2013 in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The main theme of the forum was on “Mainstreaming Adaptation into Development” with a focus on key selected topics. The Forum was hosted by the Korea Environment Institute (KEI) in association with the Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC). The co-organisers were the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Institute for Global Environment Strategies (IGES), the Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP), and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
This Forum was expected to assist decision-makers at all levels of government, in business and communities be more strategic and effective in addressing the challenges of development in a changing climate.
The forum afforded ample opportunities for a range of actors working in different sectors and systems to share their knowledge about successes, and failures, to effectively adapt to climate. The needs and interests of critical and neglected groups were highlighted alongside the need for improving knowledge management.
The Forum brought together 500 climate change adaptation experts and practitioners from across 30 Asia-Pacific countries in government, civil society, academia and the private sector to once again share experiences and find concrete solutions to mainstreaming adaptation planning at the national and community levels. The running theme of mainstreaming climate change adaptation has been the key issue Forum participants have been focusing on and addressing in the past three years.
The participants at the 3rd Forum examined more closely the increasing challenges faced by many countries in planning and implementing climate change adaptation. They include the lack of access to finance and technologies, as well as inadequate institutional capacity that resonates in most developing nations. About 150 speakers were engaged in six plenary and 26 parallel sessions at the Forum for three days (18 to 20 March 2013) to define these actions and find ways to bolster their adaptive capacities, including by better engaging the private sector and gaining access to global climate change adaptation funding.
The selected findings in the interim are listed below:
- The value of starting with existing policies and learning from experience are now more widely accepted. For example, how local communities have historically adapted to flood regimes is being reconsidered in contemporary landscapes.
- Adaptation strategies need to acknowledge more explicitly that vulnerabilities are dynamic and that multiple uncertainties remain.
- Governance structures need to be more inclusive and adaptive. This will help societies better navigate unprecedented and uncertain climates.
- The private sector is an important group to successful adaptation action. Conversations with business will have to take place in business events and boardrooms.
- Poor, vulnerable and critical neglected groups need to be engaged more directly and meaningfully in adaptation conversations.
- International organisations have an important role in sharing knowledge and experiences across countries. Adaptation knowledge management that is effective increases rates of learning and builds capacity.
- Loss and damage is an issue for all countries considering the recent impacts of extreme weather events like floods and droughts.
Water and Climate Change in India
India has only 2.4% of the world’s landmass, 4% of the total water resource, 8.1% of the world’s biodiversity, 16% of the world’s human as well as 18% of the world’s cattle population. Of the total the geographical area of India, 12% is flood-prone and 16% is drought prone. The burgeoning population, rapid urbanization and industrialization has affected the per capita availability of water, which has decreased from 5,177 cubic metres per year (m3/year) in 1951 to 1,654m3/year in 2007 and is likely to be as low as about 1,140 m3/yr in 2050.
The National Water Mission, a part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (unveiled in June 2008), identifies the threat to water resources in India due to climate change in terms of the expected decline in the glaciers and snowfields in the Himalayas; increased drought-like situations due to the overall decrease in the number of rainy days over a major part of the country; increased flood events due to the overall increase in the rainy day intensity; effect on groundwater quality in alluvial aquifers due to increased flood and drought events; influence on groundwater recharge due to changes in precipitation, evapotranspiration, and increased saline intrusion of coastal and island aquifers due to rising sea levels.
The 2012 National Water Policy recommends taking the river basin / sub-basin as a unit for planning and management of water resources and proposes that departments / organizations at the Centre and the States be restructured and be made multi-disciplinary. However, one of the problems in achieving better management is that the current institutional and legal structures that deal with water in India are inadequate, fragmented and need urgent reform. The planning, development and management of water resources has to keep pace with current realities.
The North East region of India, comprising eight states, has distinct climate variations. The rapid changes in topography result in climate changes within short distances. It is vulnerable to water-induced disasters, fragile geo-environmental setting and economic under-development. The abundant water resources flowing through the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers imposes severe distress and costs on the region through frequent flooding and erosive processes.
Meghalaya, situated in India’s North-East region, has a fragile eco-system. It has Cherrapunjee – one of the wettest places in the world –is now showing a declining trend and experts attribute this to the phenomenon of global warming and deforestation.
Until recently, the water situation in Meghalaya was precarious owing to different factors. However, for the past couple of years many ambitious projects have been launched by the Government of Meghalaya in water sector. The Water Mission launched recently aims at promoting Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and building of water-based and water-related livelihood and enterprise opportunities for the people.
Water has been made key to State government’s initiative of Integrated Basin and Livelihood Development Program (IBLDP), which addresses various issues of sustainable development related to water and natural resource management, capacity building, development of infrastructure etc., with climate change perspective. The government has established District Water Resources Councils at each district level to look at the integrated development of water resources in convergence with relevant schemes. Water Users Associations (WUAs) have been set up at the village level to usher in a regime of demand-based water management.
Recently, the state government has circulated its draft of the Water Act and Water Policy to all stakeholders for consultations. The government is preparing water harvesting strategies in the form small multipurpose reservoirs to impound water along the cascades and use it for various purposes drinking, sanitation, irrigation, aquaculture, micro-hydel, eco-tourism etc. Besides, Jalkunds or ‘stand-alone structures’ are being installed for tapping rainfall for upland irrigation.
These measures undertaken by the state government are welcome but road to sustainable development is still very long and more energetic efforts are needed to reach that goal in unison with civil society.
There is lack of inter-state cooperation and coordination in dealing with water-induced challenges in India. Appropriate water and forest development and management could provide benefits in the form of hydro-power, agriculture, inland water transport, biodiversity conservation, reduced flood damage and erosion, longer dam-reservoir life, forestry, and ecotourism. All these measures applied on priority basis can help in meeting the challenges of climate change.
By Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation
