Water Action Event - 14 nov. 2022
Until the COP21 United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2015 in Paris, It seemed that water was invisible. Agriculture, energy and forestry were (rightfully) recognized as the sole (wrongfully) key sectors to consider when addressing climate changes. Water was simply not an issue. Weirdly enough, since it is hard to imagine irrigating fields, cooling power plants or halting desertification with water out of the equation…
Of course, COP21 was a milestone in the history of global climate negotiations, as the Paris Agreement marked the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate change agreement. But it also was a milestone for the place granted to water at the Climate COPs.
At this occasion, and along with a wide range of partners, the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) pushed hard to make the voice of water heard in the international climate community. INBO launched the “Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change in the basins of lakes, rivers and aquifers”, which provides a set of principles and recommended measures and includes a call to actions, relayed by its 360 signatory organizations. INBO also joined forces with 20 organizations for the #ClimateIsWaterCampaign, led by the World Water Council (WWC) and the French Water Partnership (FWP).
In this context, and under the framework of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (a global climate action agenda by non-State actors, launched under the patronage of the Peruvian and French presidencies of the COP), the first official high level event on water in the history of the COPs was co-organized by INBO and its partners of the dedicated “Water Content Group”.
INBO was since then involved in each of the COPs, and in the definition and implementation of the water component of the Global Climate Action Agenda (which, since the COP22 that was held in Morocco, has taken the name of “Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action”, or MPGCA). Along with a myriad of thematic events, INBO co-organized with the “Water Content Group” each of the yearly editions of the “Water Action Event”, as is now called the official high level event on water initiated in Paris in 2021.
Joining forces works. This diverse initiatives with a wide range of partners have contributed to give a greater attention to water. States are urged to prioritize action on water and climate, by INBO, along with other major international organizations: French Water Partnership, the French Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion with the Water Agencies, SIWI, IWMI, UNECE, Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EcoPeace Middle East, GHD, The Nature Conservancy, Green Climate Fund, World Bank Group, International Water Resources Association, World Water Council, Global Water Partnership, UN Development Program, Union for Mediterranean.
INBO also brings its contribution to make sure that water holds a prominent place at this COP27. INBO is organizing seven events on water and adaptation to climate change. The main topics of our events are :
The list of the events (co-)organized by INBO is hereunder. The list of the speakers is in the programme section (tab on the left), as well as their PowerPoint presentations. INBO’s sessions are official UNFCCC events, or events happening in the Water Action Event, on the French Pavilion, and on the Water & Climate Pavilion.
Water is the first victim of climate change. Climate change primarily affects our societies through the water cycle, with unpredictable rainfall patterns, aquatic ecosystems degradation, altered river flows, sea level rise-induced salinization of coastal groundwater, more frequent and intense floods and droughts. These impacts cascade down to every aspects of our lives, threatening our health, our energy security, our food security, and pushing hundreds of millions of people to migrate in the coming decades.
In other words, climate is water.
And water also is part of the solution to climate challenges. In particular, planning an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at basin level loosen the threatening stranglehold of climate change impacts on all water uses. It helps to design and implement at the right scale measures intended to reduce water demand, to develop non-conventional water resources, to prevent floods & droughts or to choose the right balance and combination of green and grey infrastructures for adaptation to climate changes.
Find hereunder the flyer providing an overview of this series of events (date, theme & location) and, in the “Program” section (see left side of this web page), their detailed programs. You can also download the flyer here.
Water & Climate Pavilion Opening Ceremony
Water Pavilion: Financing Solutions for Transboundary Water Resilience to climate change
Water Action Event: The power of water: the unexplored potential for climate resilience
Click on the picture to see the replay of the event.
Official UNFCCC Event: The Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus: A regional context
French Pavilion: Basins of rivers, lakes & aquifers: the right scale for adaptation to climate change
Water & climate: let’s adapt!
Spain Pavilion: Water and Adaptation to Climate Change: Spain’s Challenges
Eric Tardieu's intervention on the Spain Pavilion
Official UNFCCC Event: “Groundwater for adaptation : challenges and solutions”
Ms. Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General, Directorate General for the Environment, European Commission
Mr. Serigne Mbaye Thiam, Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senegal
Ms. Barbara Pompili, Chair of OECD Water Governance Initiative, Former Minister of Ecological Transition of France
Ms. Marie-Laure Vercambre, Director General, French Water Partnership (Modératrice)
Ms. Jehanne Fabre, Sustainability, Water Director, Danone
Mr. Abdelkader Dodo, Coordinator of the Water Department, Sahara and Sahel Observatory
Ms. Elodie Giuglaris, Hydrogeologist Engineer, French Geological Survey (BRGM), French Hydrogeology Committee (IAH)
Ms. Mayná Coutinho Morais, General Director of the Committee for Guandu Water Reserve, Rio de Janeiro State Company for Water and Sanitation (CEDAE)
Dr. Vaibhav Chaturvedi, Fellow, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (India)
Official UNFCCC Event: Finance for Climate Resilience in the Mediterranean and Africa: Water-wise Adaptation
Official UNFCCC Event: Nature-based solutions for Water and Climate Security
EU Pavilion (virtual) : Financing joint measures across sectors for resilience at transboundary basin scale: towards more cooperative and impactful climate action