In the opening of the webinar, GWP’s facilitator, Senior Network Specialist François Brikké said that the climate community needs to work closely with the water community to get water on the climate change action agenda. In the first round of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), submitted by developing countries ahead of the Paris Agreement, 9 out of every 10 countries prioritize water-related investments – in the form of water-related information systems, built or natural infrastructure, and management and governance mechanisms. Water is common thread via which countries seek to reduce climate risks in a variety of sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, and Disaster Risk Reduction.
Mr. Batu Uprety was one of the speakers. He has worked for the government of Nepal for nearly 30 years, retiring in May 2012. He is now an Expert Member of Nepal’s Climate Change Council and Former Head of the Climate Change Management Division in Nepal's Ministry of Environment. He served as the UNFCCC Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) Chair in 2014-2015.
Mr. Uprety said that it is of utmost importance to integrate water-related adaptation options into wider development right from design stages to ensure that it features in implementation stages, sharing his experience from Nepal: “In order to ensure integration of adaptation in the water sector, and to build wider resilience via the water sector, Nepal has formed a multi-stakeholder Thematic Working Group on Water Resources and Energy as a part of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) formulation process. Nepal formed this group in 2016. The Group finalised the stocktaking report, assessed the capacity needs, and contributed in preparing and finalising a Framework on Vulnerability and Risk Assessment.”
GWP’s Programme Specialist for Climate & Water Resources Management, Anjali Lohani said: “The recently published second edition of the Water Supplement to the UNFCCC’s NAP Technical Guidelines can be a useful resource in identifying entry-points to integrate water perspectives into the National Adaptation Planning process, in a country’s given context. In their NDCs, 8 out of every 10 countries notes that delivery of their adaptation commitment hinges on international support; yet only 1 out of every 10 has ready detailed project proposals that can access and utilize funding – domestic or international, public and private – needed for implementation. By strengthening water-related adaptation planning, the application of the Water Supplement directly contributes to preparing the foundational elements of high quality transformational climate resilient water projects.”
The recording of the full webinar is available here - your code to access it is YsQZGRf2.
Photo: GWP Executive Secretary Monika Weber-Fahr and Senior Network Specialist François Brikké