On March 22, 2015, in Shanghai, the World Water Day, the Forum on Water and Sustainable Development was organized jointly by the Society of Enterprises and Ecology (SEE) and Xingye Bank with the support of the UNESCO, WWF, MAB and GWP China as well as some companies such as Coco-cola, Wanko, Yikang, etc. More than 300 people attended the opening ceremony of the Forum.
From 19-23 May 2014, the GWPEA in partnership with the Kenya Water Partnership and the Nile IWRM Net organised a regional training workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a tool for adaptation to climate change. The training aimed to strengthen the capacities of the countries in the Nile Basin and regional organisations for understanding climate change impacts and develop and implement adaptation programmes.
Dr. Nicole Bernex is a Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a Member of the GWP Technical Committee. She has been active in the GWP network for many years, the past ten of them through GWP Peru. When asked to talk about a topic close to her heart, Dr. Bernex chooses a project that GWP has been running successfully in Peru for the past two years, the Santa Eulalia Water, Climate and Development Programme.
GWP representatives are at the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, taking place 16-26 May. The focus is on GWP support for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, specifically in relation to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from countries, the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, South-South Cooperation, and financing. On Thursday 19 May GWP is co-organising a high level side event together with the Government of Morocco, the UNFCCC Secretariat Adaptation Programme, and GIZ.
In September, the United Nations will finalise a Post-2015 Development Agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which expire at the end of the year and will be “the global community’s plan of action” for all dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) for the next fifteen (15) years.
Due to a growing need within the region for countries to agree on a water-related research agenda and themes, and to avoid duplication in research, a workshop on developing a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Water Research Agenda was held at St. George Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa from the 8th to the 9th of April 2015. The workshop was planned and organised conjointly by SADC and WaterNet with the cooperation of GWP SA.