Side Event 2

At COP28, Parties adopted the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience or Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). The first thematic target of the GGA framework is dedicated to water and sanitation. It aims to “significantly reduce climate-induced water scarcity and enhance climate resilience to water-related hazards towards a climate-resilient water supply, climate-resilient sanitation and towards access to safe and affordable potable water for all”.

There is an urgent need to scale-up action to build water resilience and achieve GGA’s water targets.  However, preparedness to climate extremes remains weak in most of the countries and finance necessary for adaptation interventions continues to lag. Half of the countries globally are not protected by multi-hazard early warning systems. Coverage is even worse for developing countries on the front lines of climate change. USD 3.1 billion new investment required to advance towards early warnings for all within five years. The World Bank’s 2024 Funding a Water Secure Future report found an annual spending gap of between $131.4 billion and $140.8 billion to achieve SDG targets related to drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (in 2017 prices).

The side-event will discuss the importance of climate services to guide the identification, analysis, evaluation and treatment of risk and opportunities and the design of the most appropriate and cost-effective risk management and adaptation actions, enhance decision-making effectiveness, and support investment strategic planning. Early warning systems and user interface Platforms on climate services for water management under development with action plans, methods, tools, data, products and services as well as operational arrangements will be discussed. The side-event will also tackle the water-climate-finance nexus and discuss the different finance sources to bridge water resilient investment gap, including accelerating climate finance access. 

ACMAD will showcase the following: 

• Progress in early warning systems and best practices 
• Impact-based forecasts and technology to support decision making in agriculture and agricultural calendars
• Sustained interactions between forecast producers and forecast users (stakeholders) using UIP (Users’ Interface Platform)

Speakers

Moderator: Dr Philip Omondi, Project Manager -ICPAC

• Mohamud Khadar: Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Somalia
• Benedicte Giæver: NORCAP’s Executive Director
• Dr Sarra Touzi: Senior Water and Climate Specialist -GWP
• Kamoru A. Lawal: Senior Climate Change Expert -ACMAD
• Mr Zachary K. K. Atheru: Programme Manager, Climate Diagnostics & Prediction -ICPAC