GWP’s Global Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) supports countries in their NAP processes, for the integration of water security and climate resilience in development planning and decision making processes. The release of the NAP Water Supplement is part of the on-going efforts to support developing countries to incorporate water-related adaptation needs and opportunities in the formulation and implementation of NAPs.
“In over 20 years of our work we have seen countries succeed or fail in development when they did not take the time needed for robust water management – for agreeing on the right governance and management principles, and setting up the institutions and inclusive mechanisms necessary to make decisions about water,” said GWP Executive Secretary Monika Weber-Fahr. “We structured the NAP Water Supplement along the lines of the four elements recommended by the UNFCCC Technical Guidelines for the National Adaptation Plan process. We added examples. And we drew on the experience of the more than 3,000 partners and 60+ Country Water Partnerships of the Global Water Partnership.”
The NAP Water Supplement is designed to strengthen the resilience of economies, livelihoods, and natural ecosystems by reducing water-related climate vulnerabilities, and building adaptive and transformative capacities.
Support on project preparation for climate financing
GWP also supports national institutions to improve their capacity for developing climate resilient water projects, to improve funding possibilities from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Speaking at the NAP Expo was Ania Grobicki, Deputy Director for Adaptation at the Green Climate Fund.
“Resilience is the ability to recover from disaster. Transformative resilience – the ability that the GCF is looking for – is the ability to strengthen this; for cities to recover better, faster, broader, for more. Adaptation has the element of seeking to thrive in a changing world. It’s a question not just of surviving but thriving – to find how people can benefit from a changing climate. Which is why we need the private sector for this; building and strengthening socio-economic development while at the same time adapting to a changing climate. What we are looking for is approaches that can accelerate action towards building resilience and building inherent adaptation capabilities,” said Grobicki.
At the event, GWP Caribbean Chair Trevor Thompson shared experiences from Grenada, on how GWP assisted the country in developing its national water policy in 2007, and later to receive GCF funding. Mr. Thompson explained that the process helped deliver institutional reform in Grenada, with water being a central element. “There can be no successful implementation of water-related projects without institutional or sector reform”, said Mr. Thomson.