The synthesis report from the IARU Climate Change Congress held earlier this year has now been published.
Water related issues will become even more crucial in the future. Prof. Torkil Jønch Clausen, DHI, co- chaired the session on Climate Change and Water Systems. This session concluded: 'Climate change often affects human societies through the water system, directly and indirectly, by a combination of changes in water availability, accelerating floods and droughts, and sea level rise and storms. These impacts are already occurring, affecting the poorest and disadvantaged people and countries the most. Many of these impacts will accelerate irrespective of future agreements and actions to reduce emissions.
Enough is known now to start building adaptive capacity among vulnerable populations and ecosystems. However, improvement is required in our knowledge and modelling capabilities of the physical, social and environmental processes that affect the resilience of water systems to ensure sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Good governance is key to successful adaptation, building on integrated and adaptive approaches from the community level to trans-boundary river basins. The need for open and transparent sharing of data, information and knowledge among all stakeholders is crucial.