Climate Change and Water

CCAA-CCW Joint SessionMay 4th, 2010

• Climate change impacting availability of water worldwide

• Changes in rainfall causing more flooding and more intense droughts

• Rising temperatures reducing quality of watersupplies

• Poor people hit hardest

Preamble

Climate induced water stress results fromcomplex event driven extremes:

• Drought, flooding

• Hurricanes/typhoons

• Ecosystem change (over the longer term)

Asia by 2050s:

– Freshwater availability is projected to decrease

– Coastal areas, especially heavily-populated mega delta

regions will be greatest risk from sea flooding• Africa by 2020:– Between 75 & 250 million people projected to be exposedincreased water stress– In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture would bereduced by 50%

Small Island States:– Sea Level rise is expected to exacerbate inundation, stormsurge, erosion and other coastal hazards threatening vitalinfrastructure– By mid-century reduced water resources in many small islandstates

Source: IPCC, 2007

Where are the most vulnerable areas ?• Each region will have a short regional

strategy aligned with this to suggest entry points for CCW

Low-lying coastal settlements (SLR and Flooding) Nigeria, Egypt and Mekong Delta

• Decline in ground water (saline intrusion) Bangladesh

• Populous coastal areas (India)…

Goal of the Climate Change and Water program

Support applied research and build local capacity to improve water security and adaptation in the face of climate change

CCW Priority Research Areas

1. Quality and availability of water

2. Reducing risks and surprises

3. Related policy options

MatureLongstanding work where IDRC

has made a difference

MiddleOn-going work that will feed CCW

EmergentNew projects or explorations that are

starting

Stra

tegi

c Po

siti

on(O

ur N

iche

)

Work on wastewater use to cope with climate-related water scarcity

Work on glacial melt and the downstream impact on communities, (Nepal, Andes).

An exploration for possible IDRC investments in climate change,energy and water

A portfolio of work on water demand management has been done in MENA and LAC with IDRC support.

Urban water and sanitation (Cape Town, Tunis)

Emergent work on climate change, water and ICTs exists in the ICT4D program area

Work on climate change and flood management in cities

Policymaking for adaptation.

Stra

tegi

c Pe

rspe

ctiv

e (O

vera

ll St

rate

gy) Existing networks and partnerships

on climate change outreach and dissemination of results (5%).

Grants “plus” programming along the lines of the IDRC articulated strategy will continue on the topics outlined above (50%)

Explorations for topics that are new to CCW (ICT + Energy). (5%)

Capacity building (awards, courses) with particular attention to economics/gender. (20%)

Innovative, “high risk” programming in partnership with other IDRC units for emergent research. (5%)

Partnerships with several international. (15%)

Sample Projects for Year 1

• Urbanisation, Water Access and Use in South Asia (South Asia)

• Clean Energy and Water: An Assessment of Services for Adapting to Climate Change (Africa/Global)

• Small Grants for Research on Climate Change and Food Security (Cambodia)

Capacity Building

• Graduate Research Awards (Global)

• Training course for researchers on policy engagement

• Training on the application of environmental economics in CC research

CCW will emphasize research that takes its cue from policy makers themselves as experience shows that research results are more likely to be taken up if this is

the case.

Good policy requires an understanding of the costs and benefits of action vs. the

costs of inaction, and so better and more robust analyses of the economics of

adaptation are required. Two importantprinciples that we

have learned

Project Monitoring

CCW Monitoring Framework

Tool 1

Guidelines for project technical reports

Project teams are responsible for completing under guidance of Program

Officer

Tool 2

Guidelines for PO project monitoring reports

Program Officers complete post-monitoring

Tool 3

Annual Project Highlights

Program Leader organizes and Team

(Communications invited)

Tool 4

Trip Reports

POs responsible - used for meetings, conferences,

events where monitoring is not the central purpose of

the trip

Tool 5

rPCRsPL, RO and POs responsible

Program-level Indicators

• Verifiable increases in the capacity of recipients to produce policy relevant and/or practical contributions;

• Production of high quality and credible research results (i.e., peer reviewed);

• Evidence of methodological improvements in climate change research; and

• Evidence of improved communication and dialogue between researchers and research users.

Risks

• Scope and scale of current work onclimate change

• Integrating traditional water relatedresearch with climate change themes

To Conclude…CCW aims to provide support to solution based research that puts global climate models in a local context – and provides ways that people can respond

Thank you!