The twin global crises of climate change and water require the same thing: Accelerated action

March 2023 was a milestone month for water and climate! That month saw the release of two very important documents, the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report and the United Nations 2023 World Water Development Report: Partnerships and cooperation for water. And, perhaps even more significantly, the first United Nations Water Conference since Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1977 was held in New York from March 22 to 24. It is an appropriate time to take stock of what is happening on the global water and climate stage and to think about what that means at other scales. The Synthesis Report of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report summarizes the state of knowledge of climate change, its widespread impacts and risks, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Importantly, it “… recognizes the interdependence of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies; the value of diverse forms of knowledge; and the close linkages between climate and adaptation, mitigation, ecosystem health, human well-being and sustainable development, and reflects the increasing diversity of actors involved in climate action.” (IPCC AR6 SYR, 2023). The language used in the Synthesis Report and the associated IPCC media release is clear, and the messages are unequivocal. In its 2018 report, the IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to limit warming to 1.5°C, but 5 years later, that challenge “… is even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.” Furthermore, “(o)ver a century of burning fossil fuels and unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world” (IPCC media release, 2023). Most states (or governments) are not yet doing what needs to be done; “(t)he pace and scale of what has been done so far, and current plans, are insufficient to tackle climate change.” According to the Synthesis Report, climate-driven food and water insecurity are expected to increase with increased warming, and without accelerated action, the losses and damages already being experienced will continue, “… hitting the most vulnerable people and ecosystems especially hard.” The report is clear that we need to accelerate our efforts in both adapting to climate change and in deep, rapid, and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions across all sectors to keep warming to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels. While presenting the situation as grim, the Synthesis Report notes that by acting now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all. The solution lies in climate-resilient development—integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits. Reducing barriers to the application of global capital to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; upscaling the application of proven policy measures to achieve deep emissions reductions and climate resilience; sharing technology, know-how, and adequate finance to help communities reduce or avoid carbon-intensive consumption; effective and equitable conservation of 30%–50% of the Earth's land, freshwater, and oceans to help ensure a healthy planet; changes in key sectors including food, electricity, transport, industry, buildings, and land-use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and building trust to support transformational change are some examples cited. Climate change is primarily a water crisis, with the impacts felt through worsening floods, rising sea levels, shrinking ice fields, wildfires, changes in water availability, droughts, and other changes. But water can also help fight climate change. Sustainable water management is “… central to building the resilience of societies and ecosystems and to reducing carbon emissions” (UN, 2023). Released on March 22, World Water Day, the United Nations World Water Development Report Partnerships and Cooperation for Water (WWDR, 2023) links with the idea that water is everyone's business and that all of us have a role to play, individually, in our households and our communities. According to WWDR 2023, progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6; ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) is off-track, and “… in some areas the rate of implementation needs to quadruple, or more.” The report describes how building partnerships and enhancing cooperation across all dimensions of sustainable development are essential to accelerating progress toward all the targets of SDG6 and realizing the human rights to water and sanitation. Reviewing the experiences, both good and bad, of partnerships in water resources management and other water-related endeavors, the report highlights how “… enhancing positive and meaningful cooperation amongst the water, sanitation and broader ‘development’ communities is required to accelerate progress.” In his foreword to WWDR 2023, the Director General of the United Nations, António Guterres, noted that water is the lifeblood of humanity but warns that humanity is “… blindly traveling a dangerous path” and “vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment, unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming are draining humanity's lifeblood, drop by drop.” He stressed that smart management and conservation of the world's water resources means bringing together governments, businesses, scientists, civil society, and communities—including indigenous communities—to design and deliver concrete solutions. The WWDR 2023 highlights how “… enhancing cooperation and partnerships is not only essential to the integrated management of water resources in order to accelerate progress towards every water-related goal, but also critical in addressing the social, environmental and economic challenges that interconnect through water.” The report argues that cooperation improves water governance and decision making, stimulates innovative solutions, and leverages efficiencies. Further, by promoting inclusive engagement, participation, and dialog, and giving voices to those that are otherwise not heard, “… partnerships can help ensure that no one is left behind and that the human rights to water and sanitation are realized.” As the UN's principal authoritative report on water, the WWDR 2023 directly informed another milestone event, the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York from March 22 to 24. Co-hosted by the Governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands, the first UN water conference since Mar Del Plata, Argentina in 1977 was seen as “a watershed moment to mobilize Member States, the UN system and stakeholders alike to take action and bring successful solutions to a global scale” (UN News, 2023). The conference vision statement noted that “(w)ater is a fundamental part of all aspects of life. Water is inextricably linked to the three pillars of sustainable development, and it integrates social, cultural, economic, and political values. It is crosscutting and supports the achievement of many SDGs through close linkages with climate, energy, cities, the environment, food security, poverty, gender equality, and health, amongst others. With climate change profoundly affecting our economies, societies, and environment, water is indeed the biggest deal breaker to achieving the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” It also noted that a quarter of the global population—2 billion people—use unsafe drinking water sources, half of humanity—3.6 billion people—live without safely managed sanitation, over 80% of wastewater is released to the environment without being treated or reused, and almost three-quarters of all recent disasters were water-related, with economic damage of almost US$700 billion in the past 20 years. Water can be the deal maker, it noted: “… the leverage point for a green economy, climate resilience and a more sustainable and inclusive world.” But for this to happen, there is a need to move away from single, targeted, and reactive short-term actions toward more holistic, integrated, and future-oriented approaches and projects. Consisting of six plenary meetings and five interactive dialogs, with a myriad of side events, the key objective of the UN Water Conference was “Support to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Prior to its commencement, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, stressed that the conference “… must result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world's lifeblood the commitment it deserves.” More than 2000 government representatives, scientists, academics, civil society groups, indigenous peoples, members of the private sector, and youth delegates attended the conference. It closed with the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, considered by the UN to be a milestone action plan containing almost 700 commitments to protect “humanity's most precious global common good” (UN News, 2023). The Water Action Agenda includes a wide range of actions, from capacity building to data and monitoring systems to improving the resilience of infrastructure, to support Member States to take action through the second half of the Water Action Decade (2018–2028). In closing the conference, the UN Secretary-General pledged UN support “every step of the way” and stressed that “Without water, there can be no sustainable development. As we leave this historic conference, let's re-commit to our common future. Let's take the next steps in our journey to a water-secure future for all.” Across this momentous month for water and climate change, two things stand out. Firstly, we must greatly accelerate our efforts to address current water and climate challenges and prepare for future challenges. Secondly, business as usual will not suffice; we need new, innovative ways to address the challenges, and the best way to achieve that will be through better collaboration and stronger partnerships between individuals, communities, and nations to address our common goals. In this issue of World Water Policy, we bring you ten more articles addressing local, national, and regional water challenges around the world. In the first paper, triggered by the global water events in March 2023, Susana Neto presents a reflection on advances and failures of water governance since Mar del Plata in 1977. Using an Input–Output modeling approach, Ikram Samih and Dalila Loudyi then present their findings on water use by sector in Morocco and what that means for water policy. The case of Nui Coc irrigation system in the Red River Basin is the focus of Chinh Van Le's article analyzing water tenure in Vietnam. At a very practical level, Joseph Omoniyi Adejuwon and Ayobami Akintunde Odusote present their paper on environmental physiochemical and heavy metals in groundwater during wet and dry seasons at a cement factory in Nigeria. Lessons from both the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic feature in reflections on water security challenges in Ankara, Turkey by Md Moynul Ahsan, Yeşim Tanrıvermiş, and Mustafa Tuna. Yayiru Tibara, Hannington Wasswa, and Henry Musoke Semakula then present a vulnerability assessment to flood hazards of households in flood-prone areas of Western Uganda. Water is life and death is the headline-grabbing title of an article by Ranjit Singha and Surjit Singha that explores its symbolic representation in all customs and rituals in India. Rotimi Oluseyi Obateru, Adewale O. Adeyef, and Olutoyin Adeola Fashae then present their assessment of drought and rainfall trends in southwest Nigeria and what that means for water policy and practice in the region. The next issue of World Water Policy Journal, to be published in August 2023, will be a special issue focusing on the work of Young Water Professionals (YWPs) involved in two initiatives in South Asia. The first will be a collection of activities under the Water Security through Participatory Action Research in the Northern Province (WASPAR) project, driven by the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, since March 2020. In the second, we will present a collection of stories from the Australia-India Water Centre program for capacity building for Indian YWPs in Sustainable Water Futures. As final contributions to this current issue, Nadarajah Sriskandarajah and Murugesu Sivapalan, and Basant Maheshwari, respectively, provide a preview of that special issue. We hope you will enjoy these latest contributions and look forward to your contributions to World Water Policy. Our very best wishes, Jeff Camkin|Susana Neto Editors-in-Chief World Water Policy Journal 2023年3月对水和气候而言是具有里程碑意义的月份! 当月发布了两份非常重要的文件, 即政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)第六次评估报告《综合报告》和《2023年联合国世界水发展报告:伙伴关系与合作》。而且, 也许更重要的是, 自1977年阿根廷马德普拉塔举办的第一次联合国水资源会议以来, 第二次会议已于3月22-24日在纽约举行。 现在是一个适当的时机, 用于评估全球水和气候现状并思考这在其他尺度上意味着什么。 IPCC第六次评估报告《综合报告》总结了气候变化的了解状况、其广泛影响和风险、以及气候变化缓解与适应。重要的是, 《综合报告》“……认识到气候、生态系统和生物多样性、以及人类社会之间的相互依存关系；不同形式的知识的价值；以及气候与适应、缓解、生态系统健康、人类福祉以及可持续发展之间的密切联系, 并反映了越来越多样化的气候行动参与者。”( IPCC AR6 SYR, 2023)。《综合报告》和相关的IPCC媒体发布中使用了清晰的语言, 并且信息明确。 在2018年的报告中, IPCC强调了为将全球变暖限制在1.5°C内所需的前所未有的挑战规模, 但五年后, 这一挑战“……由于温室气体排放量的持续增加而变得更大。”此外, “一个世纪以来燃烧化石燃料以及不平等、不可持续的能源和土地使用导致全球变暖比工业化之前的水平高出1.1ºC。这导致了更频繁、更强烈的极端天气事件, 对世界每个地区的自然和人类造成了越来越危险的影响。”(IPCC media release, 2023)。 大多数国家(或政府)尚未进行需要做的事情；“迄今为止, 所做工作的速度和规模, 以及目前的计划, 都不足以应对气候变化。”根据《综合报告》, 随着气候变暖加剧, 由气候驱动的粮食不安全和水不安全问题预计会恶化, 并且, 如果不加速采取行动, 已经发生的损失和破坏将继续, “……对最脆弱的人群和生态系统的打击尤其严重。”报告明确指出, 我们需要加快适应气候变化, 并在所有部门进行深入、快速和持续的温室气体减排, 以期将变暖幅度保持在比工业化之前高1.5º的水平。 尽管形势严峻, 但《综合报告》指出, 如果现在采取行动, 我们仍然能为所有人确保一个宜居的可持续未来。解决方案在于气候适应型(climate-resilient)发展——将适应气候变化的措施与减少或避免温室气体排放的行动相结合, 从而带来更广泛的利益。引用的一些例子包括:减少“应用全球资本快速减少温室气体排放”一事的障碍；促进应用行之有效的政策措施, 以实现深度减排和气候适应能力；分享技术、实际经验和充足的资金, 以帮助社区减少或避免碳密集型消费；有效和公平地保护地球30-50%的土地、淡水和海洋, 以帮助确保地球健康；改革食品、电力、运输、工业、建筑和土地使用等关键部门, 以减少温室气体排放；建立信任以支持转型变革。 气候变化主要是一场水危机, 其影响表现为洪水恶化、海平面上升、冰原缩小、野火、可用水资源变化、干旱以及其他变化。但水也可以帮助应对气候变化。可持续水资源管理“……对于建立社会和生态系统的复原力以及减少碳排放而言至关重要”(UN, 2023)。 3月22日是世界水日, 联合国发布了《世界水发展报告:伙伴关系与合作》(WWDR, 2023), 这份报告与以下理念相关联:水是每个人的事, 我们所有人作为个体、在我们的家庭以及社区中都能发挥作用。根据该报告, 实现可持续发展目标6(确保所有人的水和卫生设施的可用性和可持续管理)的进展偏离轨道, 并且“……在某些地区, 执行速度需要翻两番, 或更多。”该报告描述了在可持续发展的各个方面建立伙伴关系和加强合作一事对于加快实现可持续发展目标6的所有目标和实现“享有水和卫生设施”的人权而言至关重要。 该报告回顾了水资源管理和其他与水有关的举措中的伙伴关系(无论好坏), 并强调“……需要加强水、卫生设施和更广泛的‘发展’社区之间的积极合作以加快进展。” 联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯(António Guterres)在该报告的前言中指出, 水是人类的命脉, 但他警告称, 人类正在“……盲目地走上一条危险的道路”以及“吸血鬼式的过度消费和过度开发、不可持续的用水、污染和不加限制的全球变暖正在一点一点地耗尽人类的生命线”。他强调, 世界水资源的智能管理和保护意味着将政府、企业、科学家、公民社会和社区——包括土著社区——聚集在一起, 共同设计和交付具体的解决方案。 该报告强调“……加强合作和伙伴关系不仅对于水资源综合管理以加快实现每一个与水相关的目标而言至关重要, 而且对于解决与水相关的社会挑战、环境挑战和经济挑战也至关重要。”该报告认为, 合作能改善水治理和决策、激发创新解决方案, 并有效利用效率。”此外, 通过促进包容性接触、参与和对话, 并让那些被忽视的人发声, “……伙伴关系能帮助确保不让任何人掉队, 并实现‘享有水和卫生设施’的人权。” 作为联合国关于水资源的主要权威报告, 其直接影响了另一个里程碑事件, 即3月22-24日在纽约举行的联合国2023水会议。自1977年阿根廷马德普拉塔会议以来, 由塔吉克斯坦和荷兰政府共同主办的第一次联合国水会议被视为“一个分水岭时刻, 用于动员联合国成员国、联合国系统和利益攸关方采取行动并在全球范围内带来成功的解决方案。”(UN News, 2023)。 会议愿景声明指出:“水是生活各个方面的基本组成部分。水与可持续发展的三大支柱密不可分, 它融合了社会价值、文化价值、经济价值和政治价值。它通过与气候、能源、城市、环境、粮食安全、贫困、性别平等和健康等方面的密切联系, 贯穿并支持许多可持续发展目标的实现。鉴于气候变化对我们的经济、社会和环境产生深远的影响, 水问题的确是实现国际商定的与水有关的目标和指标(包括《2030可持续发展议程》中的目标)一事的最大障碍。” 会议还指出, 全球四分之一的人口——20亿人——使用不安全的饮用水源, 一半的人——36亿人——生活在没有安全管理的卫生设施的情况下, 超过80%的废水未经处理或再使用就被排放到环境中, 并且近四分之三的灾害与水有关, 包括过去20年因灾害造成的近7000亿美元的经济损失。会议指出, News, Van Omoniyi Akintunde Moynul Musoke Singha Oluseyi O. 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