The Action Day for Water, organised for the first time in the history of UN Climate Change Conferences, has led to calls for more attention to water as a way of providing solutions to help implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Countries at COP22 in Marrakech have identified water as a key to adaptation in 93 percent of their national climate action plans. As water is fundamental for food security, human health, energy production, industrial productivity, biodiversity, in addition to basic human needs and its availability, ensuring water security means ensuring security in all these domains.
“Now, we need to realise what is at stake, since water insecurity leads to increased conflicts, tension between populations, and also provokes migration that threatens overall stability,” said Charafat AFAILAL, Minister Delegate in Charge of Environment of the Minister of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment of Morocco.
Water is critical for successful climate change mitigation, as many efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depend on reliable access to water resources. Systematically addressing these challenges is, therefore, key to adapting to climate change and reducing the negative impacts of water-related disasters.
The Action Day for Water also saw the launch of the Blue Book on Water and Climate by the Moroccan Government and its partners, as a concrete outcome of its interim International Conference on Water and Climate, hosted in Rabat in July 2016, in cooperation with the Government of France and the World Water Council.
The publication collects the orientations and recommendations brought forth by the international water community to support the implementation of climate commitments and proposes a variety of concrete and applicable solutions related to adaptation and resilience through water management.
“While humanity experiences increasing demographic and socioeconomic stresses, recent episodes of extreme climate around the world bring additional complexities in finding solutions to reduce these stresses,” said Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council. “Water is one of the most impacted resources, but also provides solutions to these challenges.”
