ALEX BENKENSTEIN, SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

This article appeared in Outreach, a multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable development published at COP17. View it here.

Climate change will have significant impacts on the marine and freshwater systems that support the world’s fisheries. Indeed, many of these impacts have already been observed in scientific studies, including coral bleaching, ocean acidification and changes to the range of fish stocks in response to warmer ocean temperatures. In addition to these direct ecosystem impacts, fishing fleets and communities will face an increased risk of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and other climate-related effects.

MIKE MULLER, GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIP’S TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

This article appeared in Outreach, a multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable development published at COP17. View it here.

Since water is the medium through which many of the impacts of climate change will be felt, we might expect water to be at the forefront of climate discussions, particularly as they focus increasingly on adaptation to inevitable changes. Better water management - finding ways to store water and prepare for droughts; and understanding and planning to reduce flood damage and vulnerability are just two critical examples.

DR MATS ERIKSSON, STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE (SIWI)

This article appeared in Outreach, a multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable development published at COP17. View it here.

The negotiators of the UNFCCC continue to discuss with stoic persistency the management pathways for the future of our planet. Meanwhile, as this slow and cumbersome process continues, incremental steps are taken on the African continent towards increased capacity to respond to the adverse impacts of climate change.