South Asia: An overview Water, climate change and poverty GWP South Asia and its role in adaptation to climate change

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1 Upali S. Imbulana, Regional Coordinator, GWP South Asia South Asia: An overview Water, climate change and poverty GWP South Asia and its role in adaptation to climate change South Asia spreads over about 5.13 million sq.km; about 4% of the World s surface area Within South hai Asia s comparatively small land area, a high degree of variation of geographicalfeatures such as rivers, rainforests, glaciers, deserts, mountain peaks, flood plains and grasslands can be found, The sub region is the home for about 23% of global population The resources are considerably stressed

2 South Asia : An overview cont. Faces similar challenges to sustain the benefits of investments:( in water resources), such as: poverty and unequal distribution of wealth, under nourishment of children, water pollution and overextraction, inadequate institutional reforms, climate change impacts urban rural disparities South Asia : An overview cont : Water sources: glaciers to rainfall. The share of groundwater and surface water vary significantly Trans boundary water sharing Vs trans basin diversions Adult literacy, per capita water availability, population density and the rate of increase in population, which are important parameters in forming adaptation measures, exhibit a considerable spatial variation as well. Geographical dissimilarities: land locked to islands, mountains to flat lands Under utilized to fully exhausted resources: Ex. Hydropower portential Bhutan 2%, vs Sri Lanka

3 Water, climate change and poverty Country Pop. mil Precipit. mm IRWR TRWR Per Cap WR Afghanistan ,709 Bangladesh ,370 Bhutan ,134 India ,603 Maldives Nepal ,642 Pakistan ,064 Sri Lanka ,200 :SourcesDemographic Yearbook , AQUATAT, SLWDR, BWPD Water, climate change and poverty About a quarter of global population lives in South Asia, which shares only about 4.5% of World s annual renewable water resources. The surface and groundwater withdrawal is approaching water scarcity threshold value.

4 Water, climate change and poverty cont. About 70% of the South Asia s i population lives in rural areas. The major livelihood in rural areas is agriculture, and it generally yprovides the main income source for the majority of households. 75% of the sub region s s poor live in rural areas as well. Generally, the poor people s l livelihoods lih depend on water Water, climate change and poverty cont. Country HDI < 1$/d <2$/d Studies show that Afghanistan Water availability for Bangladesh drinking and sanitation depend on irrigation water Bhutan 135 Poverty has a temporal India dimension: i.e. transient Maldives 98 poor who temporarily fall below poverty line Nepal Assured water supply Pakistan through irrigation helps to Sri Lanka transfer from chronic to transient poverty Mukukhtar, 2008 and JBICI, 2002

5 Water, climate change and poverty cont. Climate change has, inter alia, affected the reliability of water supply Agriculture is dependent d on the seasonality of rainfall, so are the fisheries and plantations Change in rainfall patterns also affect the daily wage earners Thus, Water Climate Change Poverty Nexus is an important parameter in adaptation strategies GWP South Asia and its role in adaptation to climate change GWP was founded in 1996) to foster integrated water resource management (IWRM). Its vision ii is a water secure world. 74CountryWater Partnerships, 13 Regions including South Asia GWP South Asia works in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

6 GWP South Asia and its role in adaptation to climate change cont. GWP s Strategic t goals: promoting water as a key part of sustainable national development, addressing critical challenges to water security, reinforcing knowledge sharing and communications in the water sector building a more effective network through stronger partnerships and good governance Climate change is recognized as a critical challenge Operational Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change focuses on, inter alia, advocacy on climate change and supporting the development of solutions for adapting water resources management to climate change Regional political emphasis: Dhaka Declaration on Climate Change of 2008, Thimpu Statement 2010 recognize the challenges of Climate Change GWP South Asia and its role in adaptation to climate change cont IMPROVING THE RESILIENCE OF SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES TO WITHSTAND THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE PROPOSAL FOR 3 YEARS Optimum use of GWP South Asia s comparative advantage of the access to grass roots roots level through Area Water Partnerships

7 Objectives of 3 year program To assess the climate change impacts on water resources, knowledge and strategy gaps in water resource management, vulnerabilitycharacteristics To identify success stories on integration of climate change adaptation strategies and disaster risk reduction into national development plans To identify best practices and gender sensitive techniques for water management, including traditional lknowledge and location specific ifi techniques To develop local adaptation plans on pilot basis to increase resilience of local communities and capacity building Partnership APAN will help vulnerable countries to enhance their adaptive capacity to respond to climate change, by mobilizing knowledge and technology The knowledge gained in GWP SAS programme requires effective dissemination for influencing the national policies and strategies. The GWP South Asia APAN partnership is expected to be mutually beneficial and directed to a common goal

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