Achieving Water Security in Nepal in a Changing Climate
Date & Time: Friday, 24 March; 11:00-12:15 EDT
Location: UN Headquarters (New York City, USA), Conference Room 6
This session of the UN 2023 Water Conference will focus on sharing insights, lessons learned, and challenges for achieving water security in the context of climate change. The session will draw recommendations from recent work in Nepal, a country with complex socio-economic and institutional settings and facing significant climate impacts, with consequences on communities, livelihoods, and economic development. Nepal is socially diverse, its 30 million people comprising 126 caste and ethnic groups speaking 123 languages. The landscape is equally varied ecologically; within a short north-south transect of 200 kms, the country encompasses all the ecological zones from sub-tropical to arctic. This diversity poses unique challenges for water management with important lessons for the global community. This session will address knowledge gaps surrounding growing water scarcity and share innovative solutions for increasing water security in the face of climate change.
Water, energy, food, and ecosystems (forests and biodiversity) are highly interconnected, requiring integrated management approaches. Water serves as a vital link between these systems and plays a crucial role in food production, energy development, and promoting inclusive socio-economic development. There is growing realization among water experts that water is linked not just to SDG6 but to ALL SDGs - and beyond to all national climate and development plans as well. Creating a more water-secure world, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable, cannot happen with a business-as-usual approach to investment and project implementation, nor can it happen by addressing SDG6 in isolation. Globally proven scientific tools such as the Water Tracker for National Climate Planning can facilitate understanding of the role of water in plans to acheive the SDGs and national climate commitments, including the complex interlinkages of water with all sectors of the economy. Nepal has applied the Water Tracker, and will share how the results are contributing to enhanced water resilience in the country.
The stress of climate change and the hydro-meteorological uncertainties associated with it are compounding the seemingly intractable water challenges of developing economies and LDCs like Nepal. Climate impacts, including increased frequency and intensity of floods and droughts, desiccation of soil moisture due to rising temperature affecting forests, wildlife, and dryland agriculture, delays in seasonal precipitation patterns etc., are posing a threat to food security and socioeconomic development. Apt transformation of water systems to enhance water, food, and energy (hydropower) security is key to climate action and is the basis for a climate-resilient future.
Key questions to be addressed:
What factors, physical, institutional and socio-economic, are contributing to the growing water insecurity in Nepal and the surrounding region?
What are the opportunities and difficulties of implementing local solutions to water insecurity and how can they be connected to the larger scale of the river basin? (sharing key lessons from Nepal)
How can a holistic approach consider water, energy, food and ecosystem nexus support gender-inclusive food and nutrition security? (sharing experiences from Nepal)
How can innovative international and regional cooperation support in reducing disaster risks and maximizing water-related benefits for all involved?
How can better climate science be practiced in socio-ecologically diverse settings and how do tools like Water Tracker support increased water security and resilience?
How to Participate
Official registration is required to physically attend conference events at the UN Headquarters in New York City. Select events will be livestreamed to a global audience via UN Web TV for anyone to view.
Event Program
Introduction of the Program (5 min.) - Moderator: Sanjeeb Baral, Deputy Director General, Department of Water Resources and Irrigation
Keynote Speech (15 min.) - Dr. Dipak Gyawali (Pragya Academician) of NAST and Former minister of water resources of Nepal)
Panel Discussion (20 min.) - Dr. Manohara Khadka, Country Representative, IWMI, Nepal, CGIAR Country Convenor for Nepal; Mr. George Joseph, Senior Economist, World Bank; Dr. Kapil Gnawali, Senior Divisional Hydrologist, Water and Energy Commission Secretariat; Susheel C. Acharya, Director General, Department of Water Resources and Irrigation; Gopal Sigdel, Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation
Open Floor for Questions and Discussion (15 min.)
Responses from Speakers and Panelists (10 min.)
Wrap Up and Closing (5 min.) - Moderator: Sanjeeb Baral, Deputy Director General, Department of Water Resources and Irrigation