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Water is critical for successful climate change mitigation

MARRAKECH, Morocco (PAMACC News) - Water experts have called for more attention to water by governments as a way of providing solutions to help implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Organisers of the the Action Day for Water at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech (COP22), which is the first time in the history of UN Climate Change Conferences (COPs), created through the Global Climate Action Agenda noted that countries have identified water as a key to adaptation in 93% of their national climate action plans (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

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.

In addition, water is critical for successful climate change mitigation, as many efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depend on reliable access to water resources.

Countries have identified water as a key to adaptation in 93 per cent of their national climate action plans (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or "INDCs"). 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.

In addition, 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 "Blue Book on Water and Climate" was also launched 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.

"This aligns perfectly with COP22, which is striving to be a COP of action. 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 Mrs Charafat Afailal, Minister Delegate in charge of Water of Morocco.

The leaders noted that climate justice is also a priority of the Water Action Day, as evidenced by the launching of the "Water for Africa" initiative, established by the Kingdom of Morocco and supported by the African Development Bank.

The initiative aims to render justice to Africa through the adoption of a specific action plan that will mobilise different international political, financial and institutional partners to improve water and sanitation services and management in Africa, for those most affected by climate change.

"While humanity experiences increasing demographic and socio-economic stresses, recent episodes of extreme climate around the world bring additional complexities in finding solutions to reduce these stresses. Water is one of the most impacted resources, but water also provides solutions to these challenges," said Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council.

In addition, the three alliances for basins, megacities and businesses, created at COP21 in Paris and strongly engaged in water and climate action, which today represent more than 450 organisations worldwide, signed a common commitment to mobilize jointly their partners, identify and disseminate good practices and support the development of new projects by actors on the ground engaged in adaptation and resilience of the water sector.

These three Alliances reported, in particular, during the water showcase event on the positive progress made with the Flagship Projects on water adaptation launched at COP21, such as the Hydrological information system of the transboundary Congo River, the integrated management of the Hai River in China, the strengthening of the new Mexico Metropolitan Organization for Urban flooding drainage or the "Eco-cuencas" Climate adapt cooperation project between European and Andean countries and on new adaptation projects announced at COP22 Water day, for example, the Sebou River management in Morocco, the creation of the Water Adapt Training Center in Brasilia or the future use of the SWOT satellite for Hydrological observations, inter alia".

"Adaptation of water resources to climate change must be organized at the natural level of national or transboundary basin of Rivers, lakes and aquifers, where water is flowing from up-stream to down-stream, and mobilize all actors in the field, including local authorities, economic sectors and civil society to achieve a common vision to face the climate change challenges", said Roberto Ramirez de la Parra, the President of the International Network of Basin Organisations.

"Adaptation of water resources to climate change must be organized at the natural level of national or trans-boundary basin of Rivers, lakes and aquifers, where water is flowing from up-stream to down-stream, and mobilize all actors in the field, including local authorities, economic sectors and civil society to achieve, in concertation and in due time, a common vision to face the climate change challenges", said Roberto Ramirez de la Parra, the President of the International Network of Basin Organisations.

The global climate in 2011-2015: Hottest period in history-World Meteorological Organisation

MARRRAKECH, Morocco (PAMACC News) - The period between 2011-2015 has been recorded as the hottest in history with increasingly visible human footprint on extreme weather and climate events with dangerous and costly impacts.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report released at the world climate change summit in Marrakech, Morocco, gives a detailed analysis of the global climate that has record temperatures which were accompanied by rising sea levels and declines in Arctic sea-ice extent, continental glaciers and northern hemisphere snow cover.

All these climate change indicators confirmed the long-term warming trend caused by greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide reached the significant milestone of 400 parts per million in the atmosphere for the first time in 2015, according to the WMO report which was submitted to the U.N. climate change conference.

The Global Climate in 2011-2015 also examines whether human-induced climate change was directly linked to individual extreme events.
Of 79 studies published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society between 2011 and 2014, more than half found that human-induced climate change contributed to the extreme event in question. Some studies found that the probability of extreme heat increased by 10 times or more.

"The Paris Agreement aims at limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2 ° Celsius and pursuing efforts towards 1.5 ° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The report confirms that the average temperature in 2015 had already reached the 1°C mark. We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year. Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

He added, "The effects of climate change have been consistently visible on the global scale since the 1980s: rising global temperature, both over land and in the ocean; sea-level rise; and the widespread melting of ice. It has increased the risks of extreme events such as heatwaves, drought, record rainfall and damaging floods."

The report highlights some of the high-impact events, citing statistics on losses and damage provided by other United Nations organisations and partners. These included the East African drought in 2010-2012, which led to an estimated 258,000 excess deaths, and the 2013-2015 southern African drought.

Approximately 800 deaths and more than US$40 billion in economic losses were associated with flooding in South-East Asia in 2011. Heatwaves in India and Pakistan in 2015 claimed more than 4,100 lives. Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, led to US$67 billion in economic losses in the United States of America. The deaths of 7,800 people were associated with Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013.

The report was submitted to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The five-year timescale allows a better understanding of multi-year warming trends and extreme events such as prolonged droughts and recurrent heatwaves than an annual report.

2011-2015 was the warmest five-year period on record globally and for all continents apart from Africa (second warmest).
Temperatures for the period were 0.57 °C (1.03 °F) above the average for the standard 1961–1990 reference period.

The warmest year on record to date was 2015, during which temperatures were 0.76 °C (1.37 °F) above the 1961–1990 average, followed by 2014. The year 2015 was also the first year in which global temperatures were more than 1 °C above the pre-industrial era.

Global ocean temperatures were also at unprecedented levels. Globally averaged sea-surface temperatures for 2015 were the highest on record, with 2014 in second place. Sea-surface temperatures for the period were above average in most of the world, although they were below average in parts of the Southern Ocean and the eastern South Pacific.
A strong La Niña event (2011) and powerful El Niño (2015/2016) influenced the temperatures of individual years without changing the underlying warming trend