{"id":3828,"date":"2021-08-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/southern-africa\/news\/connecting-climate-and-development-through-water-critical-ahead-of-cop26\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:12:26","slug":"connecting-climate-and-development-through-water-critical-ahead-of-cop26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwpo-gwp.org\/southern-africa\/news\/connecting-climate-and-development-through-water-critical-ahead-of-cop26\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting climate and development through water critical ahead of COP26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This was one of the key messages from the Mobilising Change: 10 years of climate resilient water investments<\/i><\/a> session, convened by Global Water Partnership (GWP), on 26 August 2021, during World Water Week, hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dual problems of the pandemic as well as floods and droughts around the world require a radical collective effort and response by all of us to increase investment in water infrastructure, management, and information,\u201d said Mr. Dario Soto-Abril, Executive Secretary of GWP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many examples from various GWP regional applications which prove that dramatic gains in climate change adaptation, as well as improvements in water and sanitation, are possible in just a few years and that some of the solutions are inexpensive, effective, and can be deployed quickly,\u201d added Mr. Soto-Abril.<\/p>\n

Global Water Partnership is currently working towards mobilising over EUR 10 billion in water-related investments by 2025,<\/a> from both private and public sources. Strategies on how this would be achieved were discussed from various regional perspectives during the session, moderated by Stacy Swann, CEO: Climate Finance Advisors, and a member of the GWP Global Steering Committee.<\/p>\n

GWP\u2019s Chair, Howard Bamsey, said that the challenge would not be to produce new funding, but rather to redirect the investments that are already being made toward climate-resilient water security.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the world prepares for COP 26 in November 2021, the lessons from a decade of GWP work reaffirm the relevance of connecting climate and development through water,\u201d said Alex Simalabwi, GWP\u2019s Global Head of Climate Resilience, who has led GWP\u2019s water and climate programme since its inception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priorities driving this work are positioning water-informed insights in national adaptation planning (NAPs), facilitating access to climate finance for resilience-building water projects, and supporting integrated planning for water infrastructure,\u201d added Mr. Simalabwi.<\/p>\n

“GWP’s track record in supporting water resource and climate resilience investments worth EUR 1.5 billion, representing a leverage ratio of 1:33 for every dollar invested in GWP’s water and climate programme over the past 10 years, is a testament to the transformative power of partnerships to create real impact,\u201d said Mr. Simalabwi.<\/p>\n

Dr. Youssef Nassef, Director of the Adaptation Division at UNFCCC, called for a greater role of GWP to support the scale-up of adaptation implementation \u2013 through offering technical support in the preparation of NAPs, filling knowledge gaps, and acting as a water-specific designated entity to receive funds from the financial mechanisms in the UNFCCC.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestments in information and data should be prioritised for products and tools that can benefit as many people as possible,\u201d said Johannes Cullmann, Director of the World Meteorological Organisation\u2019s Climate and Water Department. He also urged partners to increase understanding that NAPs need to be scaled beyond the national perspective to a regional level.<\/p>\n

Various applications of mobilising change by linking climate and water were showcased during the session, from various GWP regions.  <\/p>\n

Prof. Michael Scoullos, Chair of GWP Mediterranean said that GWP was at a critical moment to invest in knowledge, in creativity, and in synergies within the system and with all other partners.<\/p>\n

Trevor Thompson, Chair of GWP Caribbean said that the region had undertaken a consultative process with partners from across the region in order to build climate resilience into water projects. This included convening the first Caribbean Science Symposium on Water in 2021.   <\/p>\n

Fabiola Tabora, Executive Secretary of\u202fGWP\u202fCentral America said that the organisation has successfully influenced the incorporation of a forward-looking drought approach in a regional project, and as a result, six Central American countries had developed drought policies, while regional guidelines were currently under development.<\/p>\n

In Central and Eastern Europe, GWP had supported countries to access financing toward climate-resilient water projects by leveraging off strong partnerships that incorporated a wide range of stakeholders. GWP Central and Eastern Europe Senior Project Manager, Sabina Bokal, said that the organisation would continue to support the capacity of partners to apply climate change adaptation to water projects.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Investments in water security must be at the center of solutions for both climate change and post Covid-19 economic recovery. Specifically, investments in water information, institutions, and infrastructure encompassing all levels are essential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,4],"tags":[11,82,22,35,21,23],"class_list":["post-3828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","category-news","tag-climate","tag-english","tag-finance","tag-global","tag-iwrm","tag-southern-africa"],"acf":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_sidebar_content":["field_69d4d421acab1"],"sidebar_content":["

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DOCUMENTS<\/h1>\n <\/div>\n
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