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international cooperation
Groundwater Resources Assessment under the Pressures of Humanity and Climate Change (GRAPHIC)
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Project details
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Implementing Agency and Partnering Organizations:
UNESCO, IGRAC, GWSPSummary:
Groundwater is an essential part of the hydrologic cycle and a valuable natural resource. More than 1.5 billion people worldwide rely on groundwater for their primary source of drinking water. In many countries groundwater is also important for sustaining agriculture, industrial uses, streams, lakes, wetlands, and ecosystems. The use of groundwater has particular relevance to the availability of clean drinking water supplies.
Project Components:
GRAPHIC is a UNESCO-led project, seeking to improve our understanding of how groundwater interacts within the global water cycle, how it supports ecosystems and humankind and, in turn, responds to complex and coupled pressures of human activity and climate change.GRAPHIC was developed to successfully achieve these objectives within a global context and represents a collaborative effort that serves as an umbrella for international research and education.
Through a variety of case studies, GRAPHIC outlines areas of international research, covering major geographical regions, groundwater resource topics, and methods to help advance the knowledge required to address both the scientific and social aspects of this field.
Expected Outputs:
The project will not only provide a better understanding of the functioning and change of groundwater resources under the pressures of humanity and climate changes, but also address scenarios and future developments for regional scales to the global groundwater assessment and synthesis effort.
Products will include:
**1.** Database of the magnitude of changes in groundwater resources,
**2.** Methodology for evaluating groundwater resources due to climate change and human impacts;
**3.** Regional synthesis for evaluation in the global network;
**4.** Protocols for integrated assessment, modeling and forecasting for dissemination in training workshops.Contacts:
Makoto Taniguchi
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Japan
makoto@chikyu.ac.jpProject Status:
Under implementation
International Sediment Initiative (ISI)
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Project details
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Implementing Agency and Partnering Organizations:
UNESCO, Steering Committee (ISI Task Force Group)Summary:
The International Sediment Initiative (ISI) is a new global initiative to assess erosion and sediment transport to marine as well as their social, economic and environmental impacts, lake or reservoir environments.
It is aimed at the creation of a holistic approach for the remediation and conservation of surface waters, closely linking science with policy and management needs. The International Hydrological Programme Intergovernmental Council, at its 15th session (Paris, June 2002), adopted Resolution XV-8 specifically to deal with these issues.
Project Components:
The International Sediment Initiative aims to uphold the importance of sustainable sediment management within the context of the two United Nations decades which have set-up in 2005: the 'Water for Life Decade' and the 'Decade for Education for Sustainable Development'.
Expected Outputs:
Through international cooperation in the area of erosion and sediment management, ISI aims to:
- Strengthen, at global level, awareness about the importance of erosion and sediment processes and their impacts.
- Promote exchange of information on relevant data, monitoring and management methods, including the use of global environmental observation systems.
- Foster cooperation in erosion and sediment-related research and education.
Contacts:
International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES)
Address: IRTCES, P.O. Box 366, No.20 Chegongzhuang Road West,
Beijing, 100044, China
Tel: (8610) 68786413, 68413372
Fax: (8610) 68411174Project Status:
Under implementation
Pilot project on water and climate change adaptation in the Sava River
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Project details
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Implementing Agency and Partnering Organizations:
UNECE, International Sava River Basin CommissionSummary:
Since the establishment of the Sava Commission, flood management has been one of the main fields of cooperation of the Sava countries. In order to further strengthen the cooperation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Serbia and Republic of Slovenia (the Parties to the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin (FASRB)), recently developed and initiated Protocol on flood protection to the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin.
Project Components:
The project aims to support further expansion and strengthening of collaboration in the Sava River basin, to adress transboundary management floods, specifically taking into account impacts of climate change on flood risk management.
Expected Outputs:
- Assessment of data and information needs for preparation of the joint Flood Risk Management Plan for the Sava river basin and identification of data sources on national and international level,
- Initial flood vulnerability assessment of the Sava river basin and identification of the most vulnerable areas;
- Assessment if additional modelling of climate change impact on flood vulnerability is needed (starting point are WATCAP results),
- Preliminary identification of possible adaptation measures (costs, effectiveness, side effects, vulnerability reduction, feasibility of implementation, alternatives etc.);
- Preparation of a detailed Program for preparation of the first Flood risk management plan
Contacts:
Mr. Dragan Zeljko, International Sava River Basin managment
Mr. Dejan Komatina, International Sava River Basin managment
Ms. Sonja Koeppel, UNECE
Ms. Francesca Bernardini, UNECE
Ms. Bo Libert, UNECE
Project Status:
under implementation
Pilot project on water and climate change adaptation in the Chu Talas River
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Project details
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Implementing Agency and Partnering Organizations:
UNDP, UNECE, OSCE, National Water Committees in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan: Water Resources Committee under the Ministry of Agriculture, Kyrgyzstan: Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Processing Industries (MAWR), Kazakhstan: Water Resources CommitteeSummary:
Climate change may threaten livelihoods, economic development, human health, water resources, and thus security. Water resources will be directly affected by climate change through changes in the hydrological cycle. Moreover such impacts on water resources will have a cascading effect on other sectors such as agriculture (decreased availability of water for irrigation, coupled with increased demand), energy (reduced hydropower potential and cooling water availability), recreation (water-linked tourism), fisheries and navigation.
Project Components:
This project will increase the adaptive capacity of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and of the Chu-Talas Commission to ongoing and future climate change impacts, ensure coordination of adaptation actions in the Chu-Talas basin and thereby help to prevent possible negative effects on regional security.
Expected Outputs:
- Common scenarios and models agreed upon by the riparian countries assessing the expected climate change impacts on water resources; - Joint vulnerability assessment for the respective basin, including environmental, social and economic vulnerability and the security implications; - Proposal for the procedures to be employed by the Joint Commission to tackle uncertainty related to climate change and maintain needed level of cooperation and benefits sharing; - Proposal for coordinated measures to be taken in the specific basin enabling climate change adaptation, including cost-benefit assessment and environmental impact assessment.
Contacts:
Natalia Alexeeva UNDP. natalia.alexeeva@undp.org
Sonja Koeppel UNECE, sonja.koeppel@unece.org
Project Status:
Under implementation
Guidance on Water and Adaptation to Climate Change
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Project details
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Implementing Agency and Partnering Organizations:
UNECE, WMO, WHO-EURO, Netherlands, Germany, ItalySummary:
Most extreme climate events involve too much or too little water. Like climate change, water knows no borders. Countries must adapt - and work together when doing so. Adaptation measures, especially structural measures such as dams, reservoirs or dykes can have significant effects on other riparian countries. What to do if an upstream country unilaterally builds a dam to retain water for its population during droughts, but the water downstream is drastically reduced?
Project Components:
This Guidance aims at providing step-by-step advice for the development of sound adaptation strategies and thereby supporting implementation of the Water Convention in the context of climate change.
Expected Outputs:
The Guidance places special emphasis on the specific problems and requirements of transboundary basins. Its objectives include:
**1.** Preventing, controlling and reducing transboundary impacts of national adaptation measures.
**2.** Preventing and resolving possible conflict.
**3.** Encouraging cooperation in adapting to climate change in transboundary basins to share the costs and benefits of adaptation measures.
**4.** Managing uncertainty to find better and more cost-effective solutions.Contacts:
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes Environment, Housing and Land Management Division
Economic Commission for Europe Palais des Nations
8 -14 avenue de la Paix 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
Tel: 00 41 22 9172463
Fax: 00 41 22 9170107
E-mail: Water.Convention@unece.org
Website: http://www.unece.org/env/water/welcome.htmlProject Status:
Project complete.
Reducing Vulnerability, Enhancing Resilience: The Importance of Adaptation Technologies for the post-2012 Climate Agreement
Submitted by andrea on Wed, 2009-10-21 10:06Year:
Editor:
City:
Summary:
Summary
This report aims to raise awareness among Parties to the UNFCCC negotiations for the post 2012 climate change agreement about the importance of adaptation technologies for adaptation to climate change and sustainable poverty reduction, and the role that international cooperation can play in this process (Caritas & CIDSE, May 2009).
For more information: Full Report
CIDSE, Rue Stévin 16, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Lao People's Democratic Republic - National Communication
Submitted by andrea on Fri, 2009-06-19 21:21
Summary:
Key Vulnerabilities
- Agriculture/Food Security
- Forestry Management
Potential Adaptation Measures
The government’s main goals for climate change activities in the future are:
- increase public awareness activities on climate change
- implement a GHG mitigation plan
- regularly monitor and control climate change activities, for example data collection on temperature, rainfall, water flow, etc; and
- cooperate with international agencies on climate change activities and related issues
Climate change is a new concept in the Lao PDR.
Indonesia - National Communication
Submitted by andrea on Fri, 2009-06-19 20:57
Summary:
Key Vulnerabilities
- Agriculture/Food Security
- Forestry Sector
- Waste Sector
- Coastal Zones and Coastal Resource Adaptation
- Public Health
Potential Adaptation Measures
Agriculture:
- Improving technology and information transfer to farmer in order to speed adaptation and innovation and adoption.
- Strengthening research, development, and dissemination of sustainable agriculture practices.
- Supporting research and technology that will ensure that the agricultural sector can deal successfully with the various challenges of the future.
- Promote im
