Placing water at the heart of climate adaptation

Climate change is felt acutely through water – from more frequent and severe floods and droughts to saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies. This puts water adaptation at the heart of a robust global response to climate change.

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is participating in the UN 2023 Water Conference , which starts today on #WorldWaterDay in New York, to accelerate implementation and create a global momentum that positively impacts and addresses the challenges associated with water.

Coming to the UN 2023 Water Conference?

Join us in person at our side events at the United Nations Headquarters in New York:

• Water Solutions for Climate Adaptation: Lessons to Scale Up Impactful Delivery – Wednesday, 22 March 2023, 18:30 EST, Conference Room 9
• Water for Peace: From Source to Sea – Thursday, 23 March 2023, 11:00 EST, Conference Room 5
• Launch of the International Panel on Deltas, Coastal Areas and Islands (IPDC) – Thursday, 23 March 2023, 18:30 EST, Conference Room 4. Interested in learning more about the IPDC? Join us for a Deep Dive at New York Water Week on Friday, 24 March 2023, 9:00 EST at Water House on 666 Third Avenue
• Infrastructure Resilience – A Prerequisite for Ensuring Availability and Sustainable Water Wanagement – Thursday, 23 March 2023, 18:30 EST, Conference Room 7

Suggested Reading

• As the UN meets, make water central to climate action – Managing water and climate in tandem would protect water resources, reduce disaster risks, lower greenhouse-gas emissions and assure equitable access, write Feisal Rahman , Aditi Mukherji , Ase Johannessen, PhD , Shilpi Srivastava , Joep Verhagen , Henk Ovink , Willem Ligtvoet and Emmanuel Olet for Nature
• Making Water Central to Climate Action: A Message for the UN 2023 Water Conference – GCA's Program Lead, Water and Urban, Joep Verhagen and Senior Water Climate Adaptation Specialist, Feisal Rahman propose four ways to leverage water to drive climate action

Watch: Online Contributions to the Water Action Agenda

Ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference, GCA's Youth Adaptation Network and Water Adaptation Community convened two online events to catalyze action contributing to the Water Action Agenda.

• Pacific Youth Adaptation Forum – Water security is one of the key risks posing a major threat to people’s lives and livelihoods across the Pacific region. The Pacific forum brought together young people, experts, governments and international organizations to advance youth engagement with water adaptation.

• Positioning Water-Climate Adaptation for UN Water Action Agenda Commitments – This webinar was designed to support UN 2023 Water Conference participants on what is needed to get from planning to implementation for water adaptive projects, and how such projects support the progress and security of other Sustainable Development Goals.

Explore the Water Adaptation Advocacy Platform

Drawn from Water Adaptation Community meetings, webinars and dialogues, the Water Adaptation Advocacy Platform presents a series of informative multimedia briefs offering policy and implementation recommendations:

• Leveraging Water for Accelerating Adaptation
• Delta Adaptation: Reaching Impact at Scale
• Driving Resilience in Small Island Developing States?

These briefs are aimed at educating, mobilizing and inspiring engagement in the lead-up to and during the UN 2023 Water Conference. It also provides an informative resource for progressing the outcomes of the conference.

Did you know?

In Africa, 81% of available water is consumed by agriculture. Adapting water management systems for food production makes economic sense. While the cost of adapting food systems is $6 billion per year, the cost of inaction is higher: $90 billion per year.

Thank you for reading!

Interested in learning more about climate adaptation? Find out more at?https://gca.org/ and join our Water Adaptation Community at https://communities.adaptationportal.gca.org/