Water Management for Climate Change
Call for regional adaptation strategy
Broader regional collaboration on adaptation and joint meteorological data management and knowledge sharing to plan on water and food security must be achieved for water management in the face of climate change.
The recommendations came at the end of a two-day consultative meeting yesterday between water experts of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan.
Ministry of Environment and Forests and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development organised the meeting at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
The meeting's outcome will be presented at Bhutan Climate Summit 2011 in Thimpu titled “For a Living Himalayas” at the end of this year, said speakers at the meeting.
Water expert Dr Ainun Nishat, speaking as the chair, said the meeting agreed on greater collaboration on two blocks. One was on climate change and its impacts on regional water resources and another on sharing of knowledge and capacity building.
He said since the water sector would be affected most due to climate change, the experts agreed on a few points.
These include collaboration on adaptation practices related to water management, setting up meteorological data stations, monitoring water conservation efforts, improving water insufficiency and to work on disaster management, he said.
They also agreed to work on capacity building and research and formation of a common platform of all academic institutions working on climate change and water, he added.
He said the meeting also agreed to review existing global climate change models and select the most suitable one for the region to develop precise prediction on floods and droughts based on reality.
Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said, “It is a good beginning on the way to adopt a 10-year roadmap for the region in Bhutan Climate Summit in November this year. “This is the first time the four countries commonly affected by climate change agreed to work together on a number of issues including water resources. We are satisfied with the discussion on water management at regional level.”
The ministry Secretary Mesbah-ul Alam said the meeting generated high hopes of developing a collective roadmap to ensure water security while ensuring food and energy security and biodiversity conservation in the region.
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