Building Climate Resilience: Putting Water Management at the Centre

Dr James DaltonWater Management Adviser

IUCN Water ProgrammeGland, Switzerland

Water DayBonn

June 2010

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• Ecosystems provide vital services… the ‘natural infrastructure’ for adaptation

• What has IWRM taught us about adaptation and the role of ecosystems?– what needs to be done– how it needs to be done

• Where does EbA fit into climate resilience – through building resilience of socio-economic and ecological systems...to withstand shocks and re-build

Impact Infrastructure Services

• drought• flood• storms• melting ice• sea-level rise

• lakes & upland soils• floodplains• wetlands• groundwater• mangroves & sediments

• storage• supply• flood control• disaster protection• coastal defence

• Water is at the centre...and is critical for building resilience

Water, ecosystems & climate change

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Resilience in practice

1. Diversity

2. Sustainable Infrastructure & Technologies

3. Self-Organisation

4. Learning

• economy• livelihoods• nature & services

• engineering responses• natural infrastructure• sustainable & adaptable mgt

• participatory governance• empowerment• adaptive institutions

• knowledge & skills• climate information• new adaptive strategies

• Tacana• Attapeu

• Pangani• KYB / L Chad

• Volta• Mekong

• Okavango• BASIM

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Climate vulnerable basin

• weak hydrological buffering

• narrow economic & livelihood dependency

• infrastructure that can’t cope

• infrastructure that impairs hydrological buffering and livelihood diversification

• vulnerable people not empowered to act: centralised decision making

• conflict destroys coordination

• ossified institutions

• new information & knowledge not available or in use

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Resilience shift: KYB / Lake Chad

• drought aggravating poverty

• failed dam & irrigation projects

• siltation & weed infestation

• rising conflict

• paralysis

• shared information

• consensus management plan

• pilot ecosystem & livelihood restoration

• conflict resolution

• water charter: participatory governance

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Climate resilient river basin

• buffering moderates the hydrograph

• diverse livelihoods and economy

• sustainable infrastructure portfolios: engineered & natural

• infrastructure management for watershed services and economic diversification

• vulnerable people empowered to act: governance enables self organisation

• adaptive institutions, set up for learning

• accessible information, knowledge & skills

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Resilience shift: Tacanà, Guatemala

• deforested watersheds

• degraded farming systems

• social upheaval

• downstream disaster

• weak coordination

• local coordination of priorities

• landscape restoration & diversification

• social entrepreneurship

• municipal – provincial liaison

• disaster planning

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Key Messages

1. Build supporting mechanisms now for traction on-the-ground:– Preparation – capacity building, institutional readiness– Improve cross-sectoral coordination using water and IWRM approaches– Develop implementation partnerships– Support absorption by the Parties

2. Support the planning agenda with learning and demonstration – turn the Nairobi Guiding Principles into action

3. Work to support the Parties on building resilience as outlined in the Chairs Text on Adaptation

4. Focus on adaptation within wider development frameworks - – adaptation will be more effective where it uses and builds on lessons from WRM– resilience is built on diversity

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GOAL Ecosystem-based strategies for climate resilience implemented

1. Resilient development & climate adaptation

2. Adaptive governance & self organisation

3. Learning, leadership & networking

4. Infrastructure economics

5. Policy coherence

6. Programme coordination & communication

Our Developing Approach

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Thank you