CHRIS HEDEMANN, ACCOUNT MANAGER, CDP WATER DISCLOSURE

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

Too many businesses still view water as simply a cheap resource. This is an oversight that could cost them and the communities in which they operate dearly. This past year alone has seen national economies shaken by the force of water, and individual organisations have not escaped the often devastating impacts of these events.

JAKOB GRANIT, DIRECTOR, SIWI KNOWLEDGE SERVICES, STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE 

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

With growing demand for energy and the need to decarbonise the energy supply chain with new power producing technologies, there is an urgent need to better understand the demand for water for energy production and include this into the existing mechanisms under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

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.

ALEX SIMALABWI, SENIOR NETWORK OFFICER, GWP. KIRSTY SCHNEEBERGER, SENIOR POLICY OFFICER, STAKEHOLDER FORUM. OSELUKA ZIKORA, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, AMCOW

This blog is adapted from an article that appeared in Outreach, a multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable development published at COP17. View it here.

On Saturday December 3rd, the Water and the Climate Coalition (WCC), together with collaborative partners, arranged an all-day event on Water, Climate and Development. The day was filled with interesting and thought provoking presentations, followed by rich and dynamic discussions on how best to integrate water into the negotiations at COP, as well as address the nexus between water, climate and development.

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.

HANNAH STODDART, HEAD OF POLICY AND ADVOCACY, STAKEHOLDER FORUM

The closing plenary of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on Saturday 4^th December represented a major breakthrough for water in relation to the UNFCCC. Six countries, from across three continents, proposed that water be addressed as an agenda item under the next session of the SBSTA in June 2011.

ZAFAR ADEEL

This article appeared in Outreach, a multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable development published at COP16. View it here.

Many people may consider expanding deserts as the main manifestation of a warming planet, and that’s likely to occur.  However, it is just one consequence of predicted shifts in the global water cycle -- changes that will affect the quality, timing and volume of precipitation and water availability everywhere.