Background information
Climate change is likely to increase water demand while diminishing water supplies. With climate change, variability will be affected, i.e. increases in rainfall variability and air temperature, resulting in more frequent hydrologic extremes, such as high‐intensity storms, flooding, and drought events. Water supply will thus be affected, and the competition for water will be even more amplified given other factors such as the increasing population. As highlighted by the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC, 2014), impacts from recent climate-related extremes, such as heat waves, droughts, in fact reveal significant vulnerability and exposure of some ecosystems and many human systems to current climate variability.
In Asia, water availability in the region are different depending on climatic condition. In addition, there is variability of supply through time as a result both of seasonal variation and inter-annual variation. According to the IPCC Fifth AR[1], climate change is projected to increase drought-related water and food shortage in Asia as one of the key regional risks, due to risks to the physical systems including rivers, lakes, floods and/or drought. The magnitude of variability and the timing and duration of periods of high and low supply will become more unpredictable with climate change, which further intensify challenges of managing limited water resources.
In this regards, there is need for an improved understanding of the hydrological cycle and of the impacts of climate change. The best available scientific knowledge need to be transferred more actively to decision makers for an improved management of water resources, both water quality and quantity. UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP), facilitates and provides, data, tools, methodologies and policy advises to member states through flagship programme such as IFI, IDI, IWRM, FRIEND, HELP and Ecohydrology. Those tools and policy advises help promote the coordinat development and management of water, land and related resources and ecohydrology for an integrated understanding of biological and hydrological processes at a catchment scale, are helpful for promoting systemic approach to ensure water security.
Within the framework of the Eight Phase of the IHP-VIII “Water Security: responses to local, regional and global challenges”, the regional workshop on “Building Resilience to Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability to Meet Water Security Challenges” will bring together experts working in the field of water to share knowledge and best practices for an improved water security in Asia Pacific and Africa. The workshop is jointly organized by the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the UNESCO Jakarta Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific as part of the projects “Addressing Water Security: Climate Impacts and Adaptation Responses in Africa, Asia and Latin America and Caribbean” and “Upscaling water security to meet local, regional, and global challenges”.
The workshop is supported by Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP) MFIT and the UNESCO/Flanders Fund-in-Trust for the support of UNESCO’s activities in the field of Science (FUST).
The workshop is implemented in partnership with River Engineering And Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC) Universiti Sains Malaysia.
[1] IPCC, 2014. Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report: Summary for Policymakers.
Scope of the workshop
The overall objective of the workshop is to improve understanding on the climate change impact on water resources and water-related disasters, and in this regards upscale existing local approaches in IWRM for water security in order to strengthen regional cooperation. The workshop will share best practices on climate risk management through lessons learn from case studies, including disaster risk reduction and climate vulnerability assessment in the Asia and the Pacific region, and improve the science-policy dialogue and develop a set of recommendations for an improved water security in the countries.
Resources:
| Day 1 – 10 July 2017 | |
| Time | Activity |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Opening Session
|
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Keynote Presentation
|
| 10:30 – 12:00 | Session 1: Delivering IWRM through Modular Education and Water Planning Chair: Dato’ Ir. Haji Nor Hisham, DID Malaysia
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| 13:00 – 14:30 | Session 2 : Addressing Challenges for Delivering IWRM Chair: Prof. Dr. Nor Azazi Zakaria, REDAC USM
|
| 14:30 – 15:30 | Session 3: Drought and flood risk and management: vulnerability; monitoring, prediction and early warning; integrated drought and flood management Chair: Dr Olivia Castillo, former UN Sec.Gen Advisory Board Member
|
| 16:00 – 17:00 | Group discussion: UNESCO, Category II centers, other partners moderated by: Alireza Salamat, RC UWM Iran and Dr Omogbemi Omoloju Yaya, RC IRBM Nigeria |
| Day 2 – 11 July 2017 | |
| 09:00 – 10:30 | Session 4: IWRM and Water Security linked with Agenda 2030 Chair: Prof. Chan Ngai Weng, Water Watch Penang
|
| 11:00 – 13:00 | Session 5: Climate Risk Assessment and Early Warning Chair: Prof. Dr. Abdalla Abdelsalam Ahmed
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| 14:30 – 16:00 | Session 6: Asia-Africa Science Policy Dialogue on Building Resilience to Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability to Meet Water Security Challenges
Key Progress noted at the workshop |
| 16:30 | Closing Ceremony |